A Moon-Marked Wolf (Discontinued)
by KitsuneSOUL 7th Dragonslayer
Summary: when Lucy and Natsu investigate on a shooting star that supposedly crashed on mount Hakobe, what they discover is more then what they ever imagined! Now charged with the protection of a young, and supposedly sacred(?) wolf pup, they must find it's home ASAP! With new enemies on their tail, and new allies to be discovered, it's a howling(!) good story that's not to be missed!
1. Chapter 1: When the time is right

CHAPTER ONE:

When The Time Is Right

 _Far off from the land of Fiore, in the clouds, lay a kingdom that few have ever heard of…_

"NO! I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!"

"Storm, calm down. This is what we've prepared for."

"To see such a young pup brought to the land of humans?! It's too risky, Karasu! God knows who might harm her!"

"This experiment has been planned for ages. You know it's time."

Two wolves faced each other over a firepit made of sky-blue flames. One was a male, with such a mix of blue-grey, light grey, and white streaks that he seemed to be woven from storm clouds. The other was a jet black female with the tiniest of patches of white on her chest.

"Very well. If you have no more complaints, summon the pup."

Storm opened his mouth in protest, but it was already done. A small pure white wolf pup lay in the flames, unhurt by the heat. Its tiny maw opened in a yawn.

Storm glared at Karasu.

Karasu shrugged and glared at him back.

"Very well Karasu, I'll do it. "

A flash of light engulfed the young pup, and Storm began to chant:

" _Oh wind that guides our sails,_

 _strong breeze that protects our next generation,_

 _guide this pup_

 _to her destination,_

 _in the name of Sun_

 _Moon,_

 _And Star,_

 _Let the cry of our kind be heard._

 _For we are_

 _The Skyhowlers!"_

The white light engulfed the pup, and with a cry of protest, she disappeared from the pit. Down in the sky below, a shooting star crossed the twinkling midnight expanse, and disappeared over a certain area.

Karasu turned to Storm.

"It is done."

Storm turned back to survey the land below them, where he knew, that somewhere out there, a tiny pup had touched down.

"Be safe, young Lunala."

With a nod to his companion, the two wolves jumped from the area and soared off into the night sky.

Because these were no ordinary wolves.

The Skyhowlers had wings.

 _When the time is right, when our kin our almost gone, one pup shall make the journey to the land below, and find a home for those who still live._

 _This pup will have been marked by the Moon, and will be joined by two other companions, one marked by the Sun, and the other, the Stars._

 _Together, they will save our people. At any cost._

 _When the time is right._

But was the time truly right?


	2. Chapter 2: UFO ALERT?

CHAPTER TWO: UFO ALERT!

Lucy yawned and stretched. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, Plue was perched on the sofa, Natsu was on her windowsill…

Wait, what?

Lucy groaned. He was right there, sitting on the ledge. "Hey, Luce!" he greeted her with his signature grin.

Lucy greeted him with her signature falcon kick.

SMASH

"HEY! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!"

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, **USE THE DOOR!** "

Five minutes later, after she had gotten into regular clothes, Lucy went downstairs to meet Natsu outside. "ok, so what's going on?"

Natsu looked at her. "A request just came in. A shooting star, apparently, just hit the side of Mount Hakobe. We've been asked to investigate into what it might be. "

"Is there a reward?"

"50,000."

"That's dirt cheap!"

"Maybe, but who knows?"

Happy appeared beside her.

" _It might be a UFO…"_

"SHUT UP CAT!"

They arrived at the guild hall. Lucy said hi to Mirajane and Levy before sitting down at one of the tables to check out the poster.

"Looking for wizards to investigate the crash site of a recent asteroid… 50,000 jewel reward… are you sure about this, Natsu?"

Natsu grinned. "It'll be fun! Besides, it's that or we go 'investigate' the weird noises coming from the city sewer drain."

Lucy sighed. "Let's go."

They were about to leave when Happy tugged on Lucy's sleeve. " _It's the mayor._ " He whispered. Lucy turned to see the mayor of Magnolia talking with Master Makarov. He sounded angry. Lucy, Natsu, and Happy decided to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"… second time these wolves have been seen, the council breathing up my neck, why haven't you done anything about them?!"

Makarov seemed to be restraining his temper.

"we're doing what we can," he growled through gritted teeth. "But my wizards haven't found a trace of these wolves ever since they started appearing. Besides, mister mayor, it's ridiculous! What kind of wolf drops down from the sky, picks up a chicken in it's teeth, and soars away on feathered wings?"

"I don't know, but many eyewitnesses have said the same thing: wolves with wings like birds of prey have been raiding on the livestock across the country!"

"I swear, I am doing what I can to-" Master Makarov turned and saw the three of them listening. "what are you youngsters doing here? Get moving!"

"YESSIR!"

( _time skip to Mount Hakobe_ )

A wind rustled their hair as they climbed up towards the crash site. Thin smoke trailed up from a crater near the peak.

Natsu narrowed his eyes. He didn't smell any enemies, just a strange type of magic he couldn't identify. They reached the crash site to see a small glowing crystal. There appeared to be an animal in the crystal, but he couldn't make out what it was.

Lucy stared. "what is that thing?"

Happy appeared beside her. " _It's a UFO…"_

"SHUT IT, CAT!"

Natsu reached forward to grab it…

"Don't pick it up, Natsu! It could be dangerous!"

Natsu laughed. "Dangerous? Yeah, a giant glowing crystal. I'm shaking in my scarf."

He laughed at his own joke, and the realized he WAS shaking.

Or more precisely, the entire mountain was.

Happy took one look at the crystal and flew away.

Coward.

The crystal began to crack…

And suddenly it shattered, and Lucy and Natsu were blinded by the dazzling light.

Natsu pushed Lucy behind him. "Get back, Luce!"

A horrifying creature was crawling out of the stone.

A tiny, white, poufy, vicious….

…puppy?

Both their jaws hit the ground.

A tiny wolf pup crawled out of the rock. It sat down, blinked at the two humans, scratched its ear, and rolled over on it's belly, tail wagging.

Lucy freaked out at once.

"OMYGOODNESSATINYWITTLEPUPPY!"

She grabbed it and embraced it in a hug.

"YOUARESOOOOOOOCUTE!"

The puppy licked her nose with it's berry-pink tongue.

Natsu narrowed his eyes.

"Luce, hang on a sec. what's that around it's neck?"

He lifted up a silver medallion shaped like a moon.

"That's weird, it-OMYGOD!"

Two feathery stubs were growing from the pup's shoulders.

It had… **WINGS?!**

The two of the stared at the pup.

They didn't even notice a glow pulsing from the medallion.

Until it was too late.

"LUCE! LOOK OUT!"

The two of them were thrown back by a blast of white light.

There was a howl in the distance…


	3. Chapter 3: The thought of a Lunar Wolf

CHAPTER THREE: LUNAR WOLF

Lunara scratched her ear. It felt good to be out of that tight space. The two humans were spread-eagled in front of her. Only… they weren't exactly humans anymore. She had a feeling they wouldn't be very happy when they woke up.

The cat that had been with them had flown away in terror. She glanced around. A strange scent filled her nose. The smell of a predator…

Two more humans barged out of the scrappy bushes nearby. They both carried long metal sticks that smelled like gunpowder. One brought it next to it's face, prepared to fire it…

Lunara leapt at the stick and tore it out of the human's hands. The human yelled and cursed. The other one took aim at her, but she leapt away just in time. And then preceded to fall off a bank and roll down a hill.

After she got to her feet, she heard them talking.

"…Damn pup, the guns are useless now."

"Let's just throw them off the cliff. They'll die that way."

Lunara watched in horror as the men threw the transformed humans off the cliff. They bounced off the rocks below and lay still. They were trying to kill her kind! She darted away into the bushes, as the voice of her older pup-brother floated in her ears…

 _You're useless! Why would the Elders choose you for the Heralding Quest?_

 _You're a runt._

 _An outcast._

 _A coward._

That was true.

She was a coward.

She had just left two innocent humans to be thrown off a cliff.

But they weren't humans anymore…

 **Happy's POV**

Idiot, idiot, idiot! You left Natsu and Lucy alone against a weird glowing light! I flew down to the spot where I had last seen them. Two men were leaving. They both carried guns. I hid and listened to their conversation:

"Well, that went perfect. They're both dead."

"What's that you've got?"

"I found it near them."

I reeled in shock as I realized what they were: Lucy's celestial keys and Natsu's scarf! Did those men…?

"We have no use for them. Throw 'em away."

He tossed the scarf and keys into a ditch. I waited till they were far down the path, and then flew down and, with trembling paws, picked the items up.

It couldn't be.

But there was no other solution.

I could even smell their blood them.

Natsu and Lucy… were… dead.

 **#**

 **I am such an evil writer, muahahaha!**

 **Don't worry they're not dead, just slightly… altered.**

 **The metal sticks, obviously, were guns.**

 **I felt really inspired while writing this cause I was listening to Masayume Chasing, a Fairy Til OST. And don't worry, there will be a couple NaLu moments!**

 **Till next time,**

 **KitsuneSOUL.**


	4. Chapter 4: Wolf Step

CHAPTER FOUR: Wolf Step  
Natsu slowly opened his eyes. Where was he? His vision swam. He was surrounded by rocks and sand. The sun was almost setting. He rose to his feet, only to fall over again. Why was he so unsteady? He looked around. His scarf was missing, and a shred of his vest was dangling on a lone branch. He glanced down at his flank. There were several scratches on it, and it was matted with blood. He growled under his breath, and bent down to lick his-his-his-his-his his-his-his-his-his his-his-his-his-his..  
WHY THE HECK DID HE HAVE A PAW?

Natsu tried to cry out, but instead he made a yelp similar to that of a dog. He spun around, and fell flat on his face. **"What happened to me?"** he gasped, then gasped again at what tumbled out of of his mouth. Instead of normal human words, he talked in an animal-like, rough way. His gaze darted back and forth and landed on a puddle. He hopped up and trotted over to it, and looked in the puddle. He gasped (Could wolves gasp?)  
 **"Well, hello Handsome!"**  
He had turned into a tawny orange wolf with white paws, chest, muzzle, and underbelly, much like a fox. His gaze fell to his head and he saw that a clump of fur, fell over his forehead and muzzle in a sort of stylish way. It was tinged the same pink as his human hair had been. And, with later inspection, he found the fairy tail mark on his shoulder.

Natsu had just finished preening when he realized something: **"Lucy!"**

He turned around in circles a couple times before seeing her.  
She had been turned into a light golden shewolf with a sleek bit of fur hanging over her forehead. She, in other words, was knock-out GORGEOUS. He stopped admiring her long enough to notice the bruises on her body. Looking up, he realized that they had fallen off the cliff onto the rocks below. But how? And where was Happy?

He darted over to Lucy, and started nudging her to wake her up. when that didn't work, he reluctantly started licking her muzzle. That worked. She whimpered and opened her eyes slowly. **"NATSU?!"** she cried. Natsu gave her his signature grin. Or more like his tongue came out and he whined happily. Lucy stared at him in wonder, then noticed her own wolfy body.

 **"What happened to us?"**

 **"I don't know. I woke up and I was like this."**

 **"Where's Happy?"**

 **"Beats me. I think he flew off. Looks like he had more sense then us."**

Lucy buried her muzzle into the ground and whined unhappily. **"What do we do? My keys are missing, and you don't have your scarf..."**  
 **"Jeez, calm down we'll find our way outta this.."**  
 **I hope."**  
They stared at each other for a moment before Natsu heard a rustling in the bushes. He turned around, his fur on end.  
Three farmers leapt out of the bushes, carrying guns. One of them pointed. "Look, there's two more!"  
"Shoot 'em!"  
Natsu tried to talk to them. **"Calm down! We're not going to hurt you!"**  
but he couldn't talk normally. All that came out of his mouth was a series of whines and barks. One of the farmers lifted his gun.

Lucy's eyes widened.  
 **"Run!"** Natsu barked. The two of them took off, bullets flying behind them. Only then did Natsu notice the feathery wings by his side. The feathers were sunset red and orange, with tinges of pale pink. Lucy's were a silvery-golden. They both had wings. Just like that pup...  
Suddenly, Natsu heard a crack and a yelp. Turning, he saw Lucy stumble and fall to the ground. There was a bullet wound in one of her legs. He turned and growled. Opening his mouth, he snarled:

 **"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"**

But only a tiny fireball came out, barely enough to cook a meatball.  
Ok, this may be getting bad.

Natsu grabbed Lucy by the scruff and darted over a bank. They both went crashing into a bramble thicket. The men walked away. Lucy whimpered under her breath. **"What do we do now?"**

Natsu looked at her uncertainly. **"We'll get out of this, just like we always do! We're Fairy Tail! No one can beat us!"**

Lucy yelped in agreement, and then winced. Natsu looked at her leg. There was a bloody wound in her leg, deep enough that he could see the bone. He winced and turned away. Lucy sighed and layed her head down next to him. Within a moment, she was asleep.

With a sigh, Natsu tucked his tail over her back, and placed his muzzle on her shoulder. _**Funny, if we were humans, she'd never let me get this close.**_

He was beginning to like being a wolf.

 **#**

 **So, what do you think? There was a NaLu moment as promised, a small one, but still! I'll probably do more in the future! I may post pictures related to Fairy Tail and A Moon-Marked Wolf on my Google+ profile, I'll put in a link!**

 **Peace out!**

 **-KitsuneSOUL**


	5. Chapter 5: a Deadly Mistake

CHAPTER FIVE: A DEADLY MISTAKE

Birds were chirping. Sunlight streamed through the brambles. Natsu groaned and rolled over. Why was he lying on cold, hard earth? Why was the scent of Lucy surrounding him? And... WHY DID HE HAVE A LIZARD ON HIS NOSE?! His eyes shot open. A small gecko was staring at him. It licked it's eyes. He felt a wave of bile hit his throat. He tried to swat it away, but instead of a hand, he had a furry white paw. Then it all came back to him.  
The wolf pup with wings.

The asteriod.

The farmers with guns.

He raised his head and looked around. The sun was high in the sky, and clouds dotted the horizen. It was already mid-day? He turned to see Lucy curled up next to him. Her breathing was quite shallow, which worried him. He checked her leg. The bone was showing, which made him feel like throwing up. She stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

 **"Wake up, Luce."**

Lucy stared at him. **"Natsu? Is that you? Why do you look like a wolf? And..."** She stared at her own paw. **"Why do I look like a wolf too?"**

Natsu chuckled. **"Have you forgotten already? We were turned into wolves by this weird light."**

Lucy blinked and then it dawned on her face. **"RIGHT! But now we're stuck as wolves and my keys are missing and you can't use fire and Happy's gone and we can't speak like real humans-"** she broke off with a yelp as she put her weight on her leg. Natsu let her lean on him for support.

 **"First thing first"** he said **"We need to fix your leg."** His stomach interrupted him. **"On second thought, let's find food first."**

Lucy groaned. But Natsu let her settle down on the ground before slipping through the brambles and into the forest.

Looking around, he saw many bushes and trees, but no food. He wished he could turn into a human and kick himself. _Of course I can't find food! This isn't a marketplace, Baka!_

Suddenly a mouth-watering smell filled his lungs. Looking around, he saw a rabbit hopping between two bushes lazily. With a leap, he tried catching the rabbit, but he got caught between the two bushes and couldn't get out. The rabbit hopped away into the bushes. Once he got free, Natsu ran after it, but the scent faded away. He growled a not-so-nice word in wolf under his breath. Looking around, he could pick up no other scent of any prey. If there was a council of weird-looking, winged wolves in the sky up there, they were probably laughing their tails off watching him attempt to hunt. Out of frustration, he snarled at the sky and scared several birds away from a berry bush. This was torture. His stomach was practically snarling right back at him for food. Just the he realized something.

The birds had flown away from a _berry bush._

He turned tail to look at the berries. They were bright red, and had an odd scent drifting off of them. He had smelled that scent before, but he couldn't place where.

There were not that many berries, barely enough for one of them to have a small meal.

He plucked them delicately off the bush and carried them away, wrapped up in a leaf. If one of them was going to starve, it wouldn't be Lucy.

Natsu was in such a rush that he didn't notice the bodies under the bush.

The bodies of two birds, and a small field mouse.

They all had red berry juice on their mouths.

Lunala wandered through the forest. She had caught a nice juicy rabbit while looking for the transformed humans. She had caught the scent of the male, and was now tracking it through the forest. Suddenly the scent ended. The male had turned around and gone back. She examined where he had stopped.

He had stopped next to an Snakeseye berry bush.

She had been taught much about Snakeseye berries. They were rare, small, and hardy.

They were also filled with a deadly poison, known to the humans as...

Cyanide.

Natsu curled up against Lucy. She had already devoured all the berries, and was sleeping peacefully.

He was happy that she was ok, but there was one thing he didn't understand.

Why was the scent of the berries so familiar?

Just then, Lucy groaned and kicked him away. He frowned. Her mouth was clenched, like she was in pain. He leaned over and sniffed her.

Suddenly, everything came back to him.

The fight with that poison dragonslayer, Cobra. At one point he had used small red berries to refuel, like Natsu ate fire. Cobra was immune to poison, but anyone else...

He had made a deadly mistake.

 ** _Oh, god, Lucy._**

 ** _Things have just gotten a whole lot worse._**

 **Well, you've done it Natsu. You've poisoned your own _nakama._**

 **Hope you've enjoyed this chapter! Remeber to review!**

 **Peace!**

 **-KitsuneSOUL**


	6. Chapter 6: a tragic return

CHAPTER SIX: A TRAGIC RETURN

Carla stared out the window. Three days since Lucy and Natsu had left for the mission to investigate the crash. It shouldn't have been that hard! So where were they? Her ears pricked at any sudden movement. Lately she ahd been getting traces of magic and evil lurking around, but she couldn't track it. It was so frustrating! They could be anywhere, lost, injured, hungry... she was so angry and worried and she knew the rest of the guild was too! She didn't care so much about that pinhead cat Happy, but the other two, they were close friend with Wendy, and proud members of Fairy Tail! Of course she was worried about them!

Wendy sat down beside her with a plate of food. She took a bite of the bread, stared at it for a moment, then put it back on her plate. Carla wasn't too hungry either. How could she be so brash? Acting like nothing was wrong? Not Wendy, of course.  
Carla cursed softly under her breath. The evil prescence was back again. Her fur stood on end, and her ears flattened to the back of her head. The magic swirled around her, like it was taunting the guild. emI'm haunting you right now, and the only one who knows is a silly little cat!/em/p  
p style="text-align: left;"Suddenly, her vision began to swirl. Carla gripped her forehead like it was going to explode. She could no longer hear the backgrounds of the guild hall, just an odd buzz, and the same word repeated over and over in her head...  
 **the skyhowlers, the skyhowlers, The Skyhowlers, The Skyhowlers, THE SKYHOWLERS,** **THE SKYHOWLERS...**  
Suddenly, she was standing on the peak of Mount Hakobe. An odd crystal split in half was right in front of her...  
 **Was this the meteorite?**  
And then, just like a whirlwind, she was standing in the ruins of Magnolia. In front of her was the Fairy Tail flag, ripped and half-buried under the rubble of what had been the guild hall. **What happened? Who attacked us?**  
Suddenly a silhoette appeared in front of her. A huge white wolf with feathery wings, like an angel. Only this wolf looked like the opposite of an  
In front of him, behind Carla, was the fallen form of another odd winged wolf, this one a tawny red. He was stubbornly protecting the body of a female light brown wolf, who was badly injured. Behind both of them was two other winged wolves, one pitch black, and the other, storm-grey. All four were bleeding and exhausted, unable to fight. The white wolf snarled something, and several other odd wolves leapt out and attacked the fallen four.  
Slowly, they all fell.  
Carla's jaw opened in shock. Was that red wolf fighting with... FIRE? **Just like Natsu!**  
But even the brave wolf's attempt to defend his friends failed. The two wolves behind him hit the ground, overwhelmed by enemies, and the poor, sweet-looking brown she-wolf...  
a grief-stricken howl split the air...  
and the same words reeled in her head..

 **the skyhowlers, the skyhowlers, The Skyhowlers, The Skyhowlers, THE SKYHOWLERS, strongTHE SKYHOWLERS...**  
"CARLA! SNAP OUT OF IT!"  
p style="text-align: left;"Carla woke up. She was lying on the ground, sweat beading her brow. Wendy and Levy were standing over her. Wendy's expression was full of worry and relief.  
"Was it one of your visions?"  
"Y-yes, and not a good one." Stammered Carla. Turning around, she saw the rest of the guild crowded around another fallen form.  
HAPPY?!  
Wendy nodded. "He flew in a couple seconds ago. He looked really beaten up."  
Ignoring Wendy's protests for her to lay down, Carla got up and stomped over to the fallen exceed. She grabbed Happy and shook him awake.  
"Where's Natsu and Lucy?!"

Happy stared at her like he didn't recognize her, then he burst into tears. Carla glared at him, then shook him again. "Where are they?!  
Happy gave a great sniff and tried to pull himself together, but he immediatly broke down in tears again. "I-I tried to find them after the meteorite exploded, b-but...'"Carla's heart dropped into her gut. The meteorite exploded?  
""I-I couldn't find them, all I found were th-these..."  
Everyone glanced down at the contents the young exceed held.  
Natsu's scarf and Lucy's keys...  
two things neither of them would ever leave behind. And both were stained with blood.  
Gajeel stared at him. "You're saying that Salamander and Bunny Girl were... killed?"  
Happy gave another great sob.  
All the sunlight soared out of the room.  
For the first time, there was complete silence in the Fairy Tail guild hall.

Everyone stared at the keys and scarf. Some people froze and didn't move. Others broke down in tears, and other members rushed to comfort them. Mirajane Then Master Makarof raised his head.

"This has come as a shock for us all. Natsu and Lucy were two valueble members of Fairy Tail. They will be greatly missed."

Tears streamed down Carla and Wendy's cheeks.

"They will be remembered for generations. I couldn't ask for better wizards."

The master coughed for a moment.  
"As you all know, the Grand Magic Games are coming soon. It will be hard to move on without the two of them, but we will win!"

"For Natsu and Lucy!"

"And for Fairy Tail!"  
A cheer rose up, but not as loud as usual. Carla's heart clenched. Games be damned. They had just lost two valueble members.

Not members.

Family.  
She walked shakily back to the window and stared at the pristine blue sky. It wasn't as beautiful as it had been five minutes ago.

 **Aaaaand another chapter bites the dust!**  
 **Thank you for all the kindness you've shown! Remember to review!**  
 **Peace!**  
 **-KitsuneSOUL**


	7. Chapter 7: Disiese

CHAPTER SEVEN: DISIESE

Natsu watched the fallen form of his _Yakama_ like a hawk. She had been fine half an hour ago, but now her temperature was slowly on the rise, and the lines of her mouth tightened as if in pain. He had mentally kicked himself over and over again for bringing back poisonous berries, but blaming himself wouldn't help. He had to help Lucy.

" **c'mon, Lucy. Wake up."**

Eventually he got his wish.

It was almost dawn when he heard a low whine. Jumping to his paws, he turned and saw Lucy struggling to get up. He darted over and eased her into lying down. She took in a deep gasp.

" **I feel awful."**

Natsu licked her forehead sympathetically in reply. No matter how many times he told himself it had been an accident, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt. Suddenly, Lucy shuddered and retched out a trail of awful smelling bile the color of the red berries she had eaten. Natsu wrinkled his nose, but began to clear away the vomit.

Again and again she threw up until she seemed to have gotten the berries out of her system. He brought her some water-soaked moss and she drank it thirstily. Soon afterwards she fell back into an uneasy sleep.

Natsu sighed and settled down beside her. He could feel her labored breathing on his fur. He felt bad for her. If not for him, she wouldn't be so sick right now. He got up and decided to give hunting a try again.

Those wolf-gods Natsu had thought of while he was hunting last time? He had a good feeling they were roaring with laughter at his sorry attempts to hunt. " _Oh, look at that puny little human-turned-freaky-wolf." "you mean the one that's fallen flat on his face?" "That's the one!"_

He growled under his breath and tried, yet again to catch this _stupid_ frog that wouldn't stay still. It ribbitted and hopped away yet again. If only Happy could see him now. _**I wish Happy was here. He'd know what to do. Cats are smart hunters. He'd know how to catch this goddamned frog.**_ The moment he thought of that, he dismissed the idea. Happy could fish, not hunt. And there wasn't a single body of water big enough to hold fish in sight. Growling, he tried again to pin the frog down, but it's slick body slipped between his paws. It ribbitted in protest and hopped away down the hill.

Natsu cursed himself and the frog under his breath, and darted down the hillside to catch it. By the time he reached the bottom, it was gone.

" **Curse you, you stupid frog! Just stay still for once!"**

suddenly the scent of food filled his lungs. He inhaled deeply, and followed the scent over to a small drop in the ground. When he leaped over the bound, his jaw dropped.

Caged in by a thin wire fence were more chickens then he could count. Fresh, fat chickens hobbled around the small enclosure, unaware of the winged wolf. If he could just get two…

A low growl interrupted his thoughts. He turned to see a giant guard dog standing at the pen gate.

 _ **Goddammint, of course there'd be a guard.**_

He crawled away back into the bushes, hoping that it wouldn't see him. The dog sniffed the air once more before sitting down on it's haunches, eyeing the field suspiciously. This was going to be tough.

He found an old cow bone at the edge of the field, and dragged it over to his hiding place. The dog, too intent on guarding the chickens, didn't notice. Picking the bone up in his jaws, he rose from the bushes and stared at the dog. The dog leapt to attention and barked viciously. He gulped. Those teeth were bigger then he thought. **"Nice doggy, nice doggy…"**

The dog cocked his head in confusion. It took Natsu a second to realize why: The dog could understand him! And he was talking just like a human!

The dog stared at him in confusion before leaping back to attention, snarling and baring his teeth. Natsu gripped the bone as hard as he could and launched it at the dog. It hit the dog's snout with a crack, and the dog fell back with a yelp. _**Whoops,**_ thought Natsu sarcastically. _**My mistake. I wasn't aiming for the dog at all.**_

He tore through the wire fence and into the chicken coop. the chickens squawked in fright and darted away from is jaws, but after a small struggle, he managed to catch one. Now he had to get out of here. Darting through the gaping hole, he made a mad dash for the forest, but something attacked him from behind. He turned, snarling, before realizing who it was and dropping the chicken in shock.

It was Gajeel and Levy.

Shock turned to happiness as he darted towards them, barking like mad. **"You guys! You won't believe what happened! We fell of a cliff and I accidently gave Lucy poisonous berries and there was this crystal and-"**

This barks turned to a yelp as a net fell over him. Gajeel picked him up and carted him away.

"That was the easiest job we've ever done. 'Capture one winged wolf for examination by the Magic Council- child's play. Good job, shrimp."

Levy nodded in a subdued way. Gajeel put his arm around her. "We're all angry after what happened to Salamander and Lucy, but remember what the master said. We have to move on."

Levy nodded again.

Natsu's heart dropped in his throat. The guild thought they were dead?! Then again, with all the wolves flying around and being gone for four days, it was hard not to think that. But he had to get out of here. If they took him away, Lucy might…

On that thought, his paw erupted in crimson flames. Gajeel turned and yelped in shock. The flames didn't hurt him, but the surprise made him drop the bag. Quickly as he could, he burned through the net and took off for the forest, dodging their spells and attacks. He ran. And didn't look back.

After a bit of detouring to throw Gajeel's nose off his trail, Natsu returned to the den. Lucy was still passed out. She was so still that at first he thought she was dead. He curled up around her and began to whisper in her ear.

" **Hey, Luce? Even though you can't hear me, I'm going to talk to you anyway."**

" **I was hunting near a chicken coop when the guard dog came near. You should have seen his snout when I whupped him with that cow bone!"**

Natsu laughed at the memory, then frowned.

" **I grabbed a chicken for the two of us and tried to run, but then two people stopped me. Luce, you won't believe who it was."**

Lucy stirred slightly in her sleep.

" **Gajeel and Levy."**

Natsu sighed. **"They tried to to catch me, and they almost did, but I managed to get away. And you won't believe the things I heard before I got away."**

" **The guild thinks we're dead, Lucy."**

He sighed again before settling down beside her and drifting off to sleep. But just then, he awoke to the sound of footsteps. No, _pawsteps._

Immediately, he was awake. He growled at the intruder. But the voice that spoke back was _wolf-like._ Just like the language he had been speaking with Lucy lately.

" **Hello?"**

Natsu eyed the silhouette of the intruder warily. **"Who's there?"**

The white wolf pup, the same that they had found on Mount Hakobe with the crescent moon amulet stepped out.

" **My name in Lunara."**


	8. Chapter 8: Moon Magic

CHAPTER EIGHT: MOON MAGIC

" **My name is Lunara."** (little recap)

" **you're who now?"**

Lunara stared at the ignorant Sky howler in shock. **"You've never heard of me? Daughter of Bone and Flower, future Pack Alpha, Heralder Of Her People, any of that ring a bell?"**

The male Skyhowler stared at her in confusion. **"Nope."** Lunara sighed. **"All right then, time for introductions."**

" **My name is Lunara, third pup of the second litter of Bone and Flower, fitfully trained by my great-uncle, Storm the first pup of the third litter of Mist and Fog, educated by Sahara, fourth pup of the first litter of Dust and Shire, and guarded by Fisher, second pup of the second litter of Zackary and Needle."**

The male wolf blinked his eyes blankly. **"Um… do you have a piece of paper so I can write that all down? Um… oh Lunara, second pup of the third litter- I mean second- of Bone and Mist- I mean Flower- forcefully- I mean fitfully-trained by Fisher- I mean… um… by Whatshisface…"**

Lunara sweat-dropped. _**What a dense male! It's a wonder he's survived this long…**_

The wolf pulled himself together. **"Right! I suppose it's my turn to give the introductions! My name is Natsu Dragneel-"**

" **Wait, what's your name?"**

the male wolf blinked in surprise and indignation. **"What?"**

" **Your name. It had two parts. Which part is it?"**

He stared at her. **"Um… well… Fine, just Natsu."**

Lunara smirked in amusement. **"Okay then, Justnatsu, continue."**

He glared at her, then continued his speech. **"Natsu Dragneel, second- then again, I never really knew my parents- um, fitfully trained by Igneel the Fire Dragon, educated by Igneel the Fire Dragon, and guarded by Igneel the Fire Dragon."**

…

" **Oh, also currently working in Fairy Tail with partner Lucy, best friend Happy, and frenemies Gray and Erza."**

…

" **A-also, winner of the King's Cup in the Grand Magic Games. Is that enough or do you need-"**

" **No, no no! That's enough! But you mentioned that you had a partner."**

It dawned on him. **"Ooooooooh, you want to meet her?"** he frowned. **"She's kinda sick from these berries I accidently gave her…"**

" **No, not meet her! If you have a partner you must state so, as well as how many pups/litters you've had."** She leaned in with an odd twinkle in her eye. **"Which I assume you've had…?"**

'Natsu' stared at her for a second before jumping to his paws. **"What? She's not my- I mean- she's a friend- I don't- I'm not-** _ **married,**_ **or anything…"**

Lunara blinked. _**Married? What does that mean?**_ She shook her head and continued. **"So? You are saying she nothing but an acquaintance?"**

Natsu nodded. **"Friend, too."** Lunara raised an eyebrow. **"Just a friend?"** He gulped. **"Well, she's a bit more then a friend- I mean, as in a good friend, but there's actually nothing going on between us."** _ **Yet,**_ murmured the clever voice inside her brain. She cleared her throat. **"anyway, you mentioned something about her being sick?"** Natsu nodded. **"I gave her these poisonous berries I didn't recognize, and she started throwing up and-"** She darted forward and stared at him intensely. **"How long ago did you give her these berries?!"** he recoiled in shock. **"A-a day ago. Why?"**

Lunara's mind raced. A day ago? That was bad. She predicted the she-wolf had twenty-four hours to go, tops. But she didn't tell that to Natsu. He already looked stressed as it was. She concentrated on her thought for a moment before her brain clicked on a plan. **"I know a friend who could heal her. She's about half a day's walk away? But we have to hurry."**

He nodded. **"Please, just save Lucy."** She wasn't too surprised by the desperation in his voice. He was probably lying about the _bit more then a friend_ part of his introduction.

They heaved the weak she-wolf onto Natsu's back, and began the walk. The sun was barely scraping the sky when they reached a border in the forest. The lush green plantain stopped abruptly and gave way to dark trees and grimy moss. Fallen logs appeared in their path, and they struggled to get over them. **"This is the Border Forest."** Murmured Natsu.

After about an hour, it was almost mid-day. Eighteen hours left. They were about to take a break in a clearing when something blotted out the sun. Natsu glanced up. **"What is that?"**

Lunara's heart pounded in her chest. The shadow swooped over them like a hawk.

" **Run."**

 **What? But we were about to take a break!"**

" _ **JUST RUN!"**_

The snarling jaws of a hellhound closed in near her head. Hellhounds were like Skyhowlers, except they were almost always black and red, and they had bat wings instead of feathered ones. They were outcasts of the Skylands, and only dwelled in the deepest, stormiest parts of the clouds. The Skyhowlers rarely made contact with them, so they were frequently used to track down missing fugitives and kill them.

If someone was after her, this could be very bad.

They crashed through the logs and bushes. Amazingly, the female never fell off Natsu's back. They kept running till, all of a sudden, the trees cleared away to a cliff face. The hellhound was still crashing through the trees behind them, but Lunara could tell by the excited snarling that it would soon catch up. Her wings were too small to fly still, but someone else's were.

She turned to Natsu. **"Keep running"**

" **are you crazy?! There's a cliff straight ahead!"**

" **just trust me!"**

He gulped and started bounding towards the cliff. Just as the hellhound leapt from the trees and closed his jaw neatly where she had been standing two seconds earlier, Lunara jumped and landed on Natsu's back beside the female. She began to murmur under her breath.

 _ **Each of the stars shall rise**_

 _ **Take your wings to the sky**_

 _ **By the will of the clouds, I guide you**_

 _ **Now Fly!**_

 **Natsu's POV**

Natsu covered his eyes with his paws. They were going to die. They were going to die, and he would never tell Lucy how he really felt. They would never see Happy again, never see the guild (he would miss that stripper Gray), never see the hopes and dreams he had imagined when they were alone together…

He opened his eyes. Why hadn't they hit the ground? Then it struck him. His wings were out. Lucy and Lunara were still on his back. HE WAS FLYING?!

He stared at the ground below. This had to be a dream. Two seconds later. It wasn't a dream! He had flown with Happy and used his firepower to fly, but never, _ever,_ had he experienced something like this! He howled, a real wolf howl, at the sky.

The spell lasted five minutes.

Soon, all three of them came crashing to the ground. After disentangling themselves from a heap, they checked to make sure Lucy wasn't dead yet, then Lunara led them to a little hut made inside a hollow tree. Natsu froze. This place was familiar…

Lunara did a complicated knock on the door, and it opened. **"I met her a couple days ago while I was tracking you."** Natsu frowned. **"Tracking us?"** Lunara gave him a toothy grin. **"Yup, that's how I found you. Anyway, she's super nice and a very good healer. She'll be able to heal your mate."** Natsu felt his skin under his fur grow warm. **"She's not my mate!"**

Just then, the woman behind the door spoke up. "And she never will be, if you keep on feeding her poisonous berries like that! I'm ashamed that a member of Fairy Tail could be so foolish!"

Natsu's jaw hit the ground. After this moment from here on in, nothing would surprise him anymore.

Porlyusica smiled. "Funny I should find you here, Natsu Dragneel.

 **WTF?!**

 **That's it for today! I may take a short break and not update every day cause I HAVE A LIFE TOO, YKNOW?!**

 **Peace!**

 **-KitsuneSOUL**


	9. Chapter 9: Dream On

CHAPTER NINE: Dream On

Why were the berries turning black? Her stomach hurt so much. Flames were gathering around her feet, and the sky was falling. A wolf with black wings was guiding her through a deep forest.

 _Come, Little Starborn._

Who was she? Why was she here?

 _Come, we do not have much time._

Who was coaxing her? Where was Natsu and Happy?

 _Forget them. This is your destiny. Follow it._

If I am to follow you, I must know who you are.

 _Matters not. Follow me._

I'm not leaving without my friends.

 _The cat left you behind. The male poisoned you_.

They would never do that.

 _Yet you know, in your heart, that it is true._

 _Can you feel it? There is poison swirling in your body and soul._

 _Give up, Starborn. They abandoned you. Follow me. I'll show you the way._

Why should I come?

 _There is someone I'd like you to meet._

A small wolf darted in front of play with me, big sister

That is not my little sister. You are not my friend.

 _But I am. You've been abandoned._

I will not. I refuse.

 _You will regret it. You will die an awful, painful death._

Then my friends will save me.

 _You've been abandoned. Nobody will save you._

I refuse to believe that.

 **Lucy?**

Natsu?

 **Wake up. Please.**

But I am./p

 **Lunara! Come help me!**

Who's Lunara?

 **Our friend. She's here to save you.**

I'm coming!

 _You cannot run, Heartfilia. I have you here._

You'll never keep me. Who are you?

 _I am Death. You are my Prey._

 _You will never escape. I will hunt you down..._

She awoke in a bed in the middle of a hut...

 **Why was it all mumbo-jumbo? Well, this was basically Lucy's POV while she was still poisoned. It was like illusions and stuff like that. Anyway, see y'all next time!**

 **Peace!**

 **-KitsuneSOUL**


	10. Chapter 10: The Pup's Tale

CHAPTER TEN: THE PUP'S TALE

 _ **Porlyusica? What? How? When did she?**_

Natsu was frozen in place. This felt too coincidental to be true. Porlyusica's smile turned into a frown. "Well, are you coming inside or not?" she snapped. _**Yep, definitely Porlyusica.**_ Lunara trotted ahead of him and curled up on a mat next to the fireplace. Unsure of what to do, he just stood there in the doorway blinking until Porlyusica pushed him inside. He yelped, but she ignored him, swept Lucy off his back **(How could the withered old hag be so strong?)** and placed her on the bed. "Now," she said, turning to him and Lunara, "tell me what happened." Lunara glanced at me, indicating that he should tell her. He coughed, and began.

" **We were taking a job to research the meteorite…"**

After he finished, Porlyusica frowned even more. "It's rare to find Snakes eye Berries, and they mostly grow around volcanoes. I haven't studied much on them, but their poison is easy enough to cure." She turned to her cupboard, and busied herself with gathering ingredients, all the while muttering to herself, making calculations. She turned to Lucy and began mixing herbs. Lunara fell asleep and was breathing slowly in and out. Natsu was too worried to sleep, so he watched Porlyusica heal Lucy until his eyes began to droop. Just when was about to fall asleep, he heard Porlyusica clap her hands. His eyes shot open. Lunara was still asleep, and Lucy was sleeping more soundly now on the bed. **Why was I the only one to wake up?** He growled under his breath, but pulled himself to his feet. **"What is it?"**

Porlyusica glared at him. "Watch your tone, young man." Her voice dropped to whisper. "I need to talk to you." He trotted over to the side of the bed, and settled himself next to Lucy.

" **What is it?"**

Porlyusica cleared her throat. "Your first question will most likely be, Can I get turned back into a human? Well, the answer is yes, but I only know so many ways. One way is that the one who transformed you turns you back. I assume that's Lunara, but I doubt her Moon Magic is strong enough to accomplish that sort of Reversal Spell. The only other way is the Night Sky Globe." Natsu cocked his head in confusion. "It's a rare magical item found in deep mountain caves. It's a very rare sort of gem, and is sacred to the Skyhowlers." Natsu frowned again. _**Skyhowlers?**_ His question was answered. "Skyhowlers are the type of wolf that Lunara is, and what you and Lucy currently are. They are rare creatures, and live up in the clouds that circle Fiore. They are extremely intelligent, and have an industrious leader system. From what I understand, Lunara is the daughter of one of the Generals."

Porlyusica's frown turned into a sad smile. "I wish that I could find out more about their leader system. It could teach the council a thing or two. But in a couple weeks, the Sky Kingdom could no longer exist. You see, the reason Lunara was sent down here is because… her kingdom is falling apart."

His eyes, which had begun to droop, shot open, and his ears pricked in interest. "The magic that held the Sky Kingdom aloft has been weakened from the Eclipse Blast. Without it, the land will collapse, killing off all of the Skyhowlers. But the elders received an oracle that a wolf-pup touched by the Moon must journey down to the forbidden land of the Humans to find them a new home. He or she will be joined by two more, one touched by the Sun, and the other, the Stars. Together, they will succeed, or fail." Natsu stared at Lunara. **"So she's the so-called Moon-touched pup?"** Porlyusica nodded. "Yes. But the Generals believe that the oracle is wrong, and that the only way to find a new home is to take it by force. So the Elders sent Lunara down here in secrecy, without their permission. They didn't know about it at first, but you said that you were chased by a Hellhound?" he nodded. "That must have been sent by Lunara's father. He is captain of the Command over the Hellhounds, and is trying to use them to track down you three and kill you."

She shook her head. "It's hard to believe that a father would do that to his daughter, but sometimes pride outweighs love. So you must guard Lunara until the Sun and Star-touched wolves arrive." She glared at him as he looked at her in protest. "No complaining, now that you are Skyhowlers, you are some of the only humans who can talk and negotiate with the Generals. If we're lucky, you can find them all a home and call off the attack. Also," she began with a small smile, "That Night Sky Orb I told you about? It's the prize for this year's Grand Magic Games." Natsu's eyes widened. He remembered the poster he'd seen on their way out of town. On it had been a beautiful violet orb dotted with white specks. _**That must have been the orb!**_ His tail began to wag. Porlyusica smiled. "I'll find some way to disguise your wings, then I'll be able to sneak all three of you in as my "pet" dog hybrids."

Natsu gave a wolfish grin, then yawned. She smiled. "Let's all get some sleep. We'll figure out a plan of attack in the morning." He lay down, and curled his tail around himself.

" **Hey, Porlyusica?"** he murmured. "Yes?" **"How did you figure out how to speak Wolf?"** she smiled.

"I have my ways."

He drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Let's turn into dogs

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Let's turn into dogs! What could possibly go wrong?

" **YOU WANT TO TURN US INTO WHAT NOW?"**

"Calm down, you young whippersnapper. This is the only way to sneak you into the Grand Magic Games."

" **But a dog, of all animals! Why not an exceed, or something?"**

"An exceed is too complicated. A dog will take a much simpler spell."

Natsu huffed and sat down. _**Why a dog? How come we couldn't choose an animal?**_ Porlyusica glared at him. "If you're done bellyaching, come and help me gather herbs." He sighed and trotted over. Porlyusica handed him a list of herbs and berries. He turned it this way and that, trying to make heads or tails of some of them. Some looked like the unfurling talons of a dragon. Others looked like solidified pink clouds. One looked like a baboon's butt. He giggled. "IF YOU'RE LAUGHING, YOU'RE NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH!" **"Y-yes ma'am."**

He trolled through a small bush filled with an odd type of berry that smelled like pine needles. Examining the list, he spotted it in the left hand corner. Apparently, it was called a "Cone Seed", and it possessed the odd power to self-destruct when held near intense heat. He wondered whether that was true.

He learned the truth the hard way.

After smacking a hysterical Lunara upside the head and wiping the ash from his muzzle, Natsu placed a couple of Cone Seeds into the bag given to him by Porlyusica, and kept on investigating. He found a Coalfruit, a small, round, black sort of fruit that tasted like licorice, but at a cost. It practically glued your jaws together. _**Once we become humans again,**_ he thought _**I'll have to think of a way to get Gajeel and Gray to try it.**_

Another amusing discovery was a blue flower that puffed out a pollen that, if you breathed it in, you'd have weird hallucinations of butterflies for the rest of the day. He 'experimented' with it on Lunara, which ended in Porlyusica having to carry the young Skyhowler back to the hut to lie down, as she couldn't concentrate on gathering herbs.

At about noon, Porlyusica decreed that they had enough herbs, and they went back to the hut. Lucy, who was rested and feeling much better, was cooking food on the stove. She poured a soupy mixture into a bowl, and brought several fruits from the cupboard onto the counter to use in cooking. Porlyusica brought out her own bag of fruit and put it on the counter next to Lucy's. "Okay then, let's get started."

She pulled out a powder satchel and sprinkled it on Lunara, him, and Lucy, and began to murmur words in a language he didn't understand. After a second, nothing happened.

Then, there was a brilliant flash of light, and…

They were turned into… bears?

Natsu growled in a voice unlike the wolfish one he had been so used to. He stood up to get a better view of himself, and banged his head on the roof. "Don't destroy my house!" he heard Porlyusica yell, and with a flash, they transformed again.

This time, into eagles. He had to admit, he looked good as a bird

Again, she tried. They turned into sloths. Not quite as awesome.

Again. They were turned into lizards. **"I now really live up the nickname, Salamander."** Natsu chuckled, as Porlyusica tried again. They turned into exceeds.

"Aw yeah, this is perfect!" Natsu exclaimed in a perfectly human voice. "Porlyusica shook her head. "Your magic won't be strong enough as a cat." So they waved bye-bye to the cat forms and, with a final flash of light, the three of them were turned into three small german shepherd-like dogs, only Natsu was a deep red-roan color, Lucy was a dirty blonde, and Lunara was a small silver-ticked and black pup.

Porlyusica wiped the sweat from her forehead. "That should do it."

Lucy stood and went back to preparing dinner. She chopped up some fruit, and threw it in the stew, then poured the stew into bowls and handed it to everyone. Natsu inhaled the smell deeply. It had a vaguely familiar scent, yet he couldn't place where…

Five minutes later, after everyone was done their stew, he decided to ask Lucy what fruit she had used…

But his jaw wouldn't move. Neither could anyone else's.

Lucy had accidently used Coalfruit in the stew.

While Lucy tried to apologize and Porlyusica tried to yell at Natsu for not putting away the herbs, Lunara darted over to the sink and tried to scrape the stuff from her teeth. It stubbornly stayed put.

At least it'd be quiet tonight.


	12. Chapter 12: Unlock the Potential

CHAPTER TWELVE: Unlock the Potential

Natsu ran around the field. Petals flew around him. He was still a Skyhowler, but it felt good to cut loose and act like a little kid sometimes. The golden grass beneath his feet bent and swayed as he ran. The pristine blue sky was clear and perfect. He couldn't help but roll around on his back, feeling just like he had when he had still lived with Igneel. Giddy and content, he collapsed in the middle of the field. Suddenly, he heard a voice call his name. **"Natsu!"** It was Lucy. She looked as happy and content as he felt right now. She ran up at him at top speed, and pounced. The two of them ended up rolling around together in the sweet grass. After a while, they collapsed, gasping and tired. The two of them stared up at the sky. Natsu had never felt so happy in his life. This was where he was meant to be, just… being here with his _nakama._ Everything was perfect in this calm, light-filled world. The beauty, the silence yet all the noise, all of the sweet smells… he felt right at home, with Happy flying beside him, and Luce yelling at him for burning down a building or eating all her food or something, and good old Popsicle Brain lounging around, and Erza nibbling daintily on a strawberry shortcake, Wendy and Carla chatting beside her…

It was like a dream.

Except it wasn't a dream.

It was a nightmare.

All of a sudden, the light and happiness vanished. He was standing among the ruins of Magnolia. _**What happened here? Did the Skyhowler generals attack already? It must have been too early!**_ Then he noticed the flag buried under the rubble. Gently, he pulled it out.

It was the Fairy Tail flag. Torn and ripped, it looked like it had been pulled from-from-from…

Natsu glanced up. And only then did he figure out which ruins he was standing in.

It was the ruins of the Fairy Tail guild hall. And all around it were Skyhowlers, attacking terrified citizens, destroying more buildings, wreaking havoc, and snarling at other wolves. But where was Fairy Tail? Turning around, he saw several members desperately fighting off Skyhowlers. But their efforts were futile. One by one they fell, till there was one last person fighting. Lucy.

She was still a Skyhowler, but power rushed from her like a celestial spirit. She snarled **"Constellation of the Lion, activate!"** and the ghostly form of a huge lion erupted from nowhere and attacked the Skyhowler soldiers. One of them yelled **"she uses Constellation Magick!"** and the others fell back. For a bit of time, she had them intimidated, but suddenly a Hellhound swept from the sky and attacked. It lunged at her throat, but she dodged it just in time. Only to fall into the talons of the waiting Skyhowlers.

 _A high-pitched howl cut the air…_

"WAKE UP, LAZYBONES!" someone yelled in his ear. Natsu woke up with a jolt. Porlyusica was standing over him, not looking the slightest bit pleased. "Finally, Sleeping Beauty has awoken!" Lunara was watching from nearby, stifling her giggles. Lucy was perched on Porlyusica's bed, still looking drowsy. Natsu sighed. He had half-hoped that the fruit they had all eaten would continue to affect Porlyusica and Lunara, but no such luck. He rose to his feet, swaying slightly. Just then he realized that his coat pattern had changed. _**Oh yeah, we were turned into German shepherds.**_ He turned to Porlyusica. **"What are we doing now?"** Porlyusica turned and stared out the window. "Now, we return to Fairy Tail."

An hour later, they had arrived in Magnolia. The streets were jam-packed with people, as it was market day. Children ran after their parents, laughing and pointing at sweets and toys. A couple pointed their way and exclaimed "Doggies!" Lunara ducked her snout in embarrassment, but Lucy wagged her tail and trotted around, absorbing all the attention. Natsu growled, but Porlyusica slapped him. _"Behave like a well-trained dog! We're supposed to sneak you into Fairy Tail under the pretext that you're Sympathy Dogs!"_ He wanted to ask her what a SympathyDog was, but he decided now was not the time. Struggling to maintain his pride, he trotted up to the children and rolled over on his belly, barking happily. The children squealed with delight and began petting and brushing him. _**Oh, the indignity of it all!**_

Fifteen minutes later, his fur was entangled with straw and ribbons. Lucy, on the other hand, looked like she had just returned from a pet manicurist. He looked like he had been swept up in a sandstorm, along with a dozen bows and ribbons. Lunara looked just like any German shepherd, as she had not joined in the pet-a-puppy session. Porlyusica turned and glared at all of them. "Now, in order to get you into Fairy Tail without the others getting suspicious, I've decided to tell them that you three are well-trained Sympathy Dogs that I bought from a local Animal Menagerie. Do each of you know what Sympathy Dogs are?" all three of them shook their heads. "They're dogs trained to help people going through periods of grief or loss. They're supposed to sooth their pain and help them recover. It makes sense that I would be getting you three now, so that's the cover we'll stick with." Natsu was confused for a second before remembering that they were supposed to be dead. He gulped, unsure of how his guildmates would react.

They walked into the Fairy Tail guild hall. Lucy caught Natsu's eye and he nodded. He hadn't thought the whole guild would be affected like this.

Most of the members were sitting at tables and talking, but the conversations were meaningless and empty. Mirajane was at the bar, scrubbing a cup with a blank expression on her face. Everyone else was just standing there, staring into space. They could hear sobbing here and there.

Master Makarof got up and walked over. There were black lines under his eyes, like he hadn't slept in days. "What is it, Porlyusica?" Porlyusica hugged him, which took them all by surprise. "I heard about what happened. I'm so sorry. I thought these three might help." She motioned to him and the other two. Makarof nodded in approval. "I can see how they might be able to help."

Lucy got to her paws and darted over to Wendy, slowing to a walk as she approached the crying girl. She ducked her muzzle under Wendy's arms and licked her face. Wendy's sobs turned laughs as Lucy continued to lick her face. Soon there were smiles all around the guild hall. The master's eyes widened. "They've already worked miracles." He breathed. "What are their names?" Porlyusica blinked, taken by surprise, then turned and scratched Lucy's head. "This is May…" she turned to Lunara. "This is Moon." And then she turned to Natsu. "and this is Ash." Natsu's tail wagged against his will. They had earned the guild's trust, now all they had to do was get the Orb.

When no one was looking, Lucy produced a small glimmer of light in the center of her paw, like the flash of hope.


	13. Chapter 13: Power Up!

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Power Up!

The wind whipped dust across an already breeze-blown path, as the cart rumbled steadily down an old dirt road on its way to Crocus. Two more carts bumped along ahead of it. Fairy Tail was on it's way to the Grand Magic Games.

Ash was perched on the bench at the back of the second cart, panting happily. May was snoozing on the bench beside him, while Moon was leaning over the edge of the cart, a whine creeping up her throat. Wendy wondered how it was possible for dogs to get Motion Sickness, because it was quite coincidental that Moon had the same type of disease as Natsu. She sighed sadly. The first few days after Happy returned had been tough for everyone. Gray and Gajeel had been quite uptight, snapping into a rage at the slightest comment about either of the deceased wizards. Erza, Levy, Happy, and herself had spent most of the time sobbing into each other's shoulder. Romeo, despite the fact that his best friend and mentor was dead, seemed to be channeling Natsu's spirit and had taken it to heart to challenging most of the wizards and cheering everybody up with extremely goofy yet heart-warming acts of tomfoolery. Everyone else… had just been numb with the shock, though Carla refused to grieve and encouraged them to chin up and believe that the two wizards were alive and out there. She recalled the conversation she had been having with Carla right before Poryusica and the three dogs arrived…

" _You must have faith in the two of them, they wouldn't let themselves get killed so easily."_

" _But Happy found Natsu's scarf and Lucy's keys. They wouldn't leave those behind unless they couldn't help it."_

" _That doesn't necessarily mean that they're dead. You have to have faith in them."_

" _But how can I when I've lost faith in myself?"_

 _Carla remained silent._

Wendy glanced up to see poor Moon looking up at her with a pitiful look on her face. She supposed Troia would work… but would it be safe to use on a dog?

Once she couldn't take the begging stare any longer, Wendy reached down and picked up the silver puppy. A glow engulfed her hands, and the pup relaxed in her grip like taffy. Moon blinked a couple times and wiggled out of her hands and onto her lap. She looked up at Wendy with deep, knowing eyes and playfully licked her cheek. Wendy laughed, a sound like bells in the wind, and Moon barked happily and squirmed against her check, curling up on her lap and turning around a couple times before falling asleep. Wendy smiled. Looking up, she saw Ash had gotten out and was running alongside the cart, playing a rowdy game of Catch with Happy and Romeo. May had gotten into the cart behind the and was curled up with Asuka up front, while while Alzack and Bisca rubbed their hands over her glowing silvery- gold coat.

 _I'm glad Porlyusica brought back these dogs. It's like they were meant to be here._

Natsu stretched his legs and yawned. After all that running and catching the stick, he was glad for a rest. Wendy had used Troia on Lunara, and the wolf-turned-dog had fallen asleep smack-dab on her lap. Personally, he was quite surprised that he didn't have motion sickness. When the guild had gotten ready to leave, he had hidden in the guild hall cellar until Lucy dragged him out by the scruff. It had been pure joy to find that he didn't get motion sickness. A bit of a surprise that he didn't get it, but did you see him complaining?

Romeo and Happy had had their share of catch, and were snoring on the bench beside him. The sun was nearing the mountains on the horizon , and Crocus was still about a day's journey away. Porlyusica had told them before they left that when they stopped, she had something she had to talk to them about. He was kind of confused about why it was so urgent, but as long as it involved finding a way to turn them back into humans, he was fine with it. Pretty soon, shadows crept along the carts, and the drivers informed the guild that it was time to stop for the night. Tents were soon set up along the road, along with three small beds under a tarp for him, Lucy, and Lunara. Natsu felt a bit surprised at that. They had gotten more respect and trust from the guild faster than he thought.

"Ash!" he glanced up. What was that? "Ash, come!" Natsu mentally kicked himself. He was supposed to be Ash! He had forgotten that Ash had been the name Porlyusica had given him when they had been introduced to the guild. He got up and ran towards the voice.

"Good boy, Ash!" it was Gray. Natsu forced out a happy bark and rubbed his muzzle against Gray's waist. Gray smiled and put a small plastic bowl in front of him. Natsu's jaw dropped open. _**I'm expected to eat slop from a bowl?**_ He was kind of used to eating messily, but he doubted Lucy and Lunara would be as happy. He was distracted from his thoughts when he saw that Gray had put several chunks of meat, some mashed potatoes, and gravy in his dish. _**Leftovers from their dinner.**_ He gobbled up the meal with as much gusto that he could muster. Going over to his bed, he saw Lunara curled up in her bed snoring while Lucy licked her paws clean of food scraps. He curled up next to her and let exhaustion take over him…

" **Natsu! Wake up!"** He groaned. Time to see Poryusica already? He raised his head to see Lucy. **"Come on! Let's go!"** Natsu raised himself to his paws and slunk into the shadows with Lucy. They weaved through the tents and over to the edge of the forest. Suddenly, a movement nearby startled them. They jumped into the forest and hid in the bushes. Natsu listened carefully before recognizing the voice.

" **It's Gray!"**

" **And Juvia, from the sound of it."**

The two of them watched the couple walk along the border of the forest. Juvia was clinging to Gray's arm lovingly. Natsu heard Gray say something about getting to bed, and Juvia smiled happily. "And Juvia gets to sleep with Gray-Sama in the same tent!" Gray groaned. "PLEASE don't remind me…" the two of them edged closer and closer to Natsu and Lucy's hiding place. Natsu turned to Lucy. _**"What should we do?"**_ in the quietest voice he could muster. _ **"Let's pretend we were playing here all along."**_ She pounced on him playfully with a forced bark of happiness. He went along with it, jumping around, trying to pin her down. "Aw, look at them play!" squealed Juvia. Gray snickered. "Reminds me of Pyro Freak and Lucy…" Natsu winced, he hoped it didn't show. _**One of these days, I'm going to bite him right on the…**_ but biting Gray's butt didn't sound all that appetizing.

After a while, Gray and Juvia turned and headed back to the camp. The moment they were out of sight, Natsu and Lucy took off into the woods.

They finally stopped in a clearing. Porlyusica was sitting on an old tree stump, reading a book by the light of a lantern. She looked up when they stepped into the clearing. "Good. I'm glad you came. I've figured out a way for you two to use magic in your dog forms." Natsu perked up. **"You have? We can?"** she nodded. "Yep. I didn't need Lunara here because she already uses Moon Magic, but you two on the other hand…" she trailed off. "You see, you two have already partially unlocked your magic. Lunara tells me that you" she pointed to Natsu "attempted using magic against some hunters." Natsu's cheeks burned at the memory. **"Yeah… and I failed miserably."** "So I heard." Porlyusica growled darky. "And Lucy," she nodded to Lucy. "used a bit of magic in the guild hall. It was successful, but only lasted a few moments." She brought out two small crystals, one red, one golden-silver. "These crystals contain an energy that, if unlocked, allows you to use your original magic. But to unlock it, you have to break the crystals." Natsu stared at her. **"And we do that… how?"** "Simple. You have to use the powers you had when you first turned into Skyhowlers. He stared at her in disbelief. The power he used then had barely fended off the hunters. How was it able to break a crystal like that? Glancing at Lucy, it looked like she assumed the same thing. **Well, I have to try…**

 **(time skip, 30 minutes later)**

He definitely wasn't trying hard enough.

After half an hour of blasting the damn stone with all the magic energy he could summon, he had barely made a dent in it. Porlyusica yelled at him "You can do better than that!" but he couldn't summon enough fire power to do a good deal of damage. He was prepared to deal one more good blast when Lucy called out **"Hey Natsu!"** he turned and looked at her. **"What?"**

" **You stink. Gray could've destroyed the dumb stone by now. You'll never be strong enough."**

…

…

…

…

…

" **WHAAAAAT WAS THAAAAAAAAAAT?!"**

BOOM!

An eruption of fire sprang from his paws. There was a flash of light, and when it cleared, Natsu hadn't only destroyed _his_ crystal, but _Lucy's crystal as well._ Panting, he turned to Lucy. **"Well? How about that?"** Lucy blinked at him innocently. **"What do you mean?"**

" **You just told me that I stink."**

" **Goodness, when did I say that? You must have imagined it."**

" **Um… I'm pretty sure I didn't… (** _ **getting a sense of deja-vu here…**_ **)"**

Porlyusica stared at the shards in shock. "You destroyed… _both of them?_ Well, at least this makes our work easier." She turned to the two of them. "Now, try a magic attack."

Natsu let out a fire blast, while Lucy unleashed a magic blast.

They were both very powerful attacks, but something was odd about them.

Natsu's fire blast was a golden color, while Lucy's spirit-like blast had formed a bull made out of golden flames.

Porlyusica's eyes widened. "So… the powers combined. This changes… many things."

Natsu stared at her. **"What does that mean?"** Porlyusica stared at him. "It means that your fire power and Lucy's spirit magic have melded together to create a new type of magic entirely: Golden Spirit Fyre."

Natsu blanked. **"ooookay, first, what does that mean? And second, couldn't it have a better name?"**

Porlyusica glared at him. "I didn't make up the name, wise guy. It means that your flames and Lucy's spirit magic are far more powerful then what they were originally. Also, if you're wondering how Lucy summoned that bull, basically her power now is the power to summon magical beings-and not just beings that resemble her spirits. All kinds of animal spirits, and the spirits of those who have passed on. This means she can communicate with spirits of the dead." Natsu's ears perked up. **"Cool! Meaning she could talk Michelle, and her mom, and her dad…"** he didn't get Lucy's hint to SHUT UP ALREADY!

"I would talk more about it, but it's getting late. We should all head back to the camp. I'll do more research on Golden Spirit Fyre, and tell you what I find out on the road."

The two dogs ran the way back to camp, feeling more confident about the games then they had been before. But one question nagged Natsu constantly. _**Why did they need to use magic? They couldn't participate in the games.**_

 **And another chapter is finished! Thanks so much for following AMMW, and till next chapter,**

 **Happy Valentine's Day!**

 **-KitsuneSOUL**


	14. Chapter 14: Arrival

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Arrival

The next morning, the members of Fairy Tail had a hastily made breakfast before jumping back into the carts and back onto the road. The sun was now close to the middle of the sky when, in the distance, Lunara could just barely spy the slightest haze on the horizon. **"Hey guys… I think I see Crocus- urp…"** Wendy had explained to her before they had left that she couldn't use whatever she had used yesterday to help her motion sickness, because it wouldn't be as effective. Which sucked, because her heart felt ready to jump back up her throat, along with her breakfast. Ash- Natsu- looked at her sympathetically, which didn't help her mood. **"It gets worse if you stay awake."** Lunara narrowed her eyes. **"What's that supposed to mean?"** He looked at her one more time, then brought his paw down on her head. The last thing she heard was Lucy snarling at Natsu for hitting her, then her vision faded out.

After a while, her eyes slowly opened. The sun was now farther down in the sky, and many of the wizards were taking naps or talking about the Games. She rose to her paws, forgetting about her motion sickness…

And collapsed on the bench with a whine. Her stomach turned and tumbled like a parcour artist. As she struggled to get back up, she heard several voices talking. Quickly, she lay back down on her side, pretending to still be knocked out. It was Natsu, Lucy, and Porlyusica. Porlyusica was holding a large leather book, skimming through pages and stopping every now and then to point to a page and talking to Natsu and Lucy about something. She perked her ears to see what they were talking about.

"… an ancient art that was long abandoned, Golden Spirit Fyre is a magic that was created to chase off evil dieties and demons. But unlike Dragonslayer Magic or God Slayer Magic, it was made for chasing off enemies rather than killing them. But after a serious accident, it was banned by the Magic Council."

Lucy growled. **"Does it say what the accident was?"** Porlyusica skimmed through several more pages before stopping. "Apparently, a guild known as Nevermore wielded it against the Magic Council. Their goal was to defeat the Council and get access to the Etherious Cannon. Like Avatar, they believed that if they caused enough deaths, they would succeed in summoning Zeref to them. But the Council stopped them and banned Golden Spirit Fyre from being used. But that was the old council. The new council has allowed the Fyre to be used again."

Natsu sighed and stretched his legs. **"Good. So we're not criminals. Does it go into details about Nevermore?"** Porlyusica scanned the page and shook her head. "No, but it gives details on something else…"

"Nevermore never was a dark guild before the rebellion. All of the members used Golden Spirit Fyre, but they originally used it for good. They were a guild dedicated to eradicating Zeref and his followers. They were known for journeying through the land to distant villages, slaying demons and monsters who were threatening them. But, according to rumours, one day no one left the Nevermore Guild Hall. And for two days, everything was quiet. No one was able to contact the members, not even their family members. Then, terrible screams were heard from the hall…"

"When they came out, they were never the same. Their hearts and souls were darkened and twisted, and they thought of nothing but killing others. Some believed that Zeref came and possessed them, forcing them to join sides with the very enemy they had been trying to defeat. Others say the spirits of the demons and monsters rose from the dead and tortured them until they were driven insane. But one rumour agrees that they overused the Golden Spirit Fyre and drove themselves mad with the overwhelming power. Because of that, they couldn't tell who was a friend or foe. They went on a killing spree. And the first to die were their family members, not knowing how twisted their loved ones were."

Natsu and Lucy shuddered. Lunara didn't blame them. She remembered realizing that the one who had sent the Hellhound had been her father. Having a parent trying to kill you sounded awful, but welcoming home your sister or son or father after they were locked away for so long, only to have them slaughter you sounded horrible. No wonder the council had it banned. Another incident like that would be devastating. She groaned as her stomach gave another heave. **"Kill me now…"** she whined. Porlyusica, Natsu, and Lucy jumped in surprise. **"How long were you there?"** snarled Natsu. Lucy whacked him over the head. **"BAKA! She's in on the whole 'turn-us-back-into-humans' plan!"**

" **OW! That's the second time today you've hit me!"**

" **You totally deserve it!"**

" **You deserve it more!"**

" **You deserve it twenty-seven more times than I do!"**

" **You deserve it thirty-zero-nineteen more times than I do!"**

" **What's that supposed to mean, baka?"**

Lunara groaned. **"You two fight more than a mated couple."**

They turned and glared at her. **"WE'RE NOT MARRIED OR MATED!"**

After another hour of stomach-turning hell, the haze in the distance drew to a giant utopia of sound and smells. Lunara had enjoyed the great vastness of Sky City, and Magnolia had seemed so busy for her, but Crocus was ASTOUNDING! The beautiful flowers and trees were so much more pretty then the stubby shrubs and sprouts that grew in the indoor gardens, and the smells… good Moon God, the smells! She could smell pastries, and flowers, and candy, and delicious meats…

Her stomach couldn't take it all. She emptied the last of her half-digested breakfast out the side of the cart.

The cart bumped down the road over to a roadside inn right outside Crocus. "Sorry" she heard the driver say. "the other guilds are staying in inns like this, too." Porlyusica smiled mysteriously, then hid it when she saw Lunara staring. "How come?" she heard someone say. "It's because this is one of the only inns that will accept pets." The wizard frowned. "I don't think it would be because of the exceeds, because they've been accepted in the past… so why would they do something like this now?" the driver smiled. "You'll see. I worked as one of the organizers for a long time, and they've got something new planned for this year…" he refused to say anything else.

Lunara wondered if Porlyusica knew something they didn't, too.

Once they entered the inn, Natsu could tell that this inn was different. There were tons of pets everywhere, and pawprints were scattered across the floor. Just then, he recognized someone…

" **Sting!"** the fellow dragonslayer was talking with the innkeeper at the front desk. Lector was perched on his shoulder. He could hear Sing arguing. "Why did they spring something like this last-minute? I can understand that they need the space, but storing animals in the guild hall?" Lector shrugged. "It's the only place big enough, yes…"

Natsu darted up with a joyful bark and rubbed his muzzle on Sting's leg. He looked down to see the playful dog staring up at him, panting and tail wagging happily. "Why hello there, aren't you friendly?" he noticed the Fairy Tail mark on Natsu's shoulder. "So you're one of Fairy Tail's fighters? Excellent! I can't wait to see you against Gale…" Natsu cocked his head. Who was Gale?

The master entered the inn. "Sting. Good to see you here!" Sting nodded. "You too, Makarof! But where's Natsu?" the master froze. Um about that…"

But Sting didn't let him. "Oh, he's probably passed out of motion sickness. Well, tell him I look forward to fighting him!" he walked off with Lector, discussing… animal food?

Something was up with this year's Grand Magic Games. And he was determined to find out what.


	15. Chapter 15: Introduction

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: INTRODUCTION

"May! Wake up!" Lucy groaned as she heard one of the wizards call her name. Dawn had just broken over the horizon. Why so early? The opening ceremony wasn't till around 8:00 am, and they didn't even need to be there by 7:30. _**Just a bit more rest…**_ she thought…

"MAAAAYYYY! GET YOUR LOUSY TAIL OVER HERE!" aaaaaand there was Porlyusica. No getting extra sleep now. She sighed, and rose to her paws. Natsu and Lunara were already at Porlyusica's feet, waiting for her. It looked like they were leaving early. **"Oh, grumble, grumble, whine all you want, let's go!"** yipped Natsu excitedly. Lunara yawned. Lucy growled under her breath. **"Why do we have to leave now? The ceremony isn't for forever!"** Natsu shrugged. **"Dunno. The animals have to be there early, apparently."** Lucy groaned. **"OF COURSE there'd be some sort of examination to see whether we're magic users or pedigrees or hybrids- wait, '** _ **the animals'**_ _ **?**_ **There's more?"**

Natsu shrugged again. **"Beat's me. Porlyusica refuses to say anything, and none of the other guild members have been talking about it."** The four of them walked down the street of Crocus. It was a lush, blooming city with over 50 public gardens. Lunara's eyes widened as she looked around in wonder at all of the flowers and plants and scenery. Natsu yawned and glanced at an especially gorgeous pruned rosebush, contemplating how much trouble he'd get into if he set it on fire. If he just burned off a bud or two, no one would notice. But where was the fun in that? Maybe if he waited for a passing dark cloud, and then lit up the entire thing, they might think it had been lightning…

But there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and he decided that he probably _would_ get in trouble.

They entered a giant building, with a banner that stated "GMG Wizard Familiar Sign-Up. All guilds welcome." A mage with a long beard was sitting at a desk in the entrance. He had a bored expression on his face. Porlyusica rapped the desk, and he sat up with a stunned look. "What may I do for you?" Porlyusica brought out a signed sheet. "I'm here to enter these three for the… special… category in the Grand Magic Games." The wizard looked at the three of the carefully. "Ah, German Shepherds. What guild are entering them under?" "Fairy Tail." She replied. "Very good," muttered the wizard, scribbling things down on his paper. "Names, official team name, and Inn Number?" Porlyusica thought for a moment. "Names, Ash, May, and Moon, Team Luna Belle, and inn number, um… we're staying at the Blooming Rose Inn." The mage smiled behind his beard. "Ah, number seven. You're guild was one of the lucky ones. The Blooming Rose is one of the best inns when it comes to accommodating animals, but I shudder to think what you would have gotten otherwise." He shivered, then perked up again. "Signature."

Porlyusica signed the paper, then handed it to the old mage. He took it, placed it in a folder marked "Entrances" and opened a drawer, pulling out three leashes. The three of them shied away and growled. "Oh, they don't need leashes, they're well-trained" Porlyusica quickly explained. The mage glanced over Lucy and the others, then shrugged. "okay, then. Come along little dogs."

The three of them followed him down a hallway to a door labeled "Entry Quarters". He opened it, and led them inside.

The room was a cacophony of noise and sounds. Attendants rushed around with bowls and blankets, while others prepared papers and talked to older mages. The room they were in was large, and the walls were divided with planks, creating a sort of makeshift stable. Banners with the mark of different guilds hung over each stall, with a name on it. _**Molly, Chase, April…**_ there were so many! The mage, understanding his confusion, smiled. "This is a special category in the Grand Magic Games. We don't want animals getting lost, like that girl and her cat were, two years ago, so the animals stay here for the time being. We've gotten a wave of applications and- ah, here are your quarters!" three small stalls had been set up in front of them. A banner hung over each of them, with the Fairy Tail mark on all three. The wizard waved his hand, and their names appeared on each one. Ash, May, Moon. "These will be your stalls during the Games. Your guild will be allowed to visit from time to time, and if you get injured during the Games, there is an animal hospital set up nearby. Enjoy your stay, and you are free to roam around this area and greet the other competitors." He walked off.

Lucy looked at her quarters. They were small and neat, with a fluffy dog bed at the back. Curtains could be drawn across the entrance for privacy, and there were two small bowls next to the bed. One had clean water in it, and the other was empty. Probably for food and water. Several dog toys were lying around on the floor. She padded over and picked up a squeaky toy. She shuddered as she remembered what the mage had said. _"We don't want animals getting lost, like that girl and her cat were, two years ago…"_ that had been Wendy and Carla, and they hadn't gotten lost, they had been attacked by Obra of Raven Tail… Lucy remembered seeing the poor girl in the Infirmary, curled up, defeated, weakened…

" **Hey Lu- May, come on! Let's go explore the quarters!"** Natsu popped up from behind the curtain, panting excitedly. Lucy shrugged, and trotted behind him.

The dorms had more guild animals then they expected. As they walked through it, Lucy recognized all sorts of guild marks. Suddnely, she bumped into a wall of feathers.

" **Oh, sorry!"** she heard a voice say. Looking up, Lucy saw a _griffon,_ with brown and creamy feathers, standing in front of her. On the patch below his feather was the Sabertooth guild mark. His voice was very rough, and he had several scars over his beak. Natsu's eyes widened. **"Hey, I've heard of you!"** Lucy stared at him. **"You know him?"** Natsu turned to her. **"Sting was talking about him last night."** The bird's eyes widened. **"Ah, so you've heard of Master Sting-Kun. He is the most generous, the most powerful, the most regal, the most extravagant…"**

" **We've got a future poet over here!"** laughed a large, handsome-looking silver and black husky, who had been passing by. His eyes almost immediately fell on Lucy. **"And from the looks of it, a future heartbreaker."** He puffed out his chest and raised his eyebrows in a coy, flirty way. Lucy barked a laugh. **"Let me guess… Blue Pegasus?"** the dog bowed. **"Correct. Onyx, the Charmer Champion of Blue Pegasus, at your service."** Lucy snickered. **"You've certainly got the silver-lined tongue of Blue Pegasus."** Onyx laughed, though it wasn't really meant to be a joke. **"Indeed. Now then, beautiful"** he twined his tail over her neck. **"what do you say we go eat some bones, maybe raid the dorm kitchen garbage can? I know all the best places."** Lucy felt Natsu tense beside her. A growl rose in his throat. **"A very tempting offer, Onyx, but we've got to keep moving."** Gale's head shot up. **"Come with me! I know where to find the other guild animals!"**

they followed the griffon through the hall, stopping to meet animals from familiar guild along the way. They met April, another husky from Blue Pegasus, who was Onyx's sister, and there to keep him in line. They met Diablo, a mastiff from Quattro Cerebus, who held a grudge against Fairy Tail for the "Quattro Puppy" business two years before. They met Casy and Rio, two female fox spirits from Mermaid Heel, Chase the wyvern from Lamia Scale, and another fox spirit named Etoile from a guild known as Dream Flight Alpha.

Just when Lucy and Natsu were heading back to their quarters, a gong rang out, and attendents began rushing around leading animals down a hall to a giant door. Lucy stared at them. **"What now?"** Natsu shrugged. **"Just follow the crowd, I geuss…"**

They marched down the hallway, soon joined by Lunara. She, too, didn't have a clue on what was going on. The doors opened before them, and they entered a giant arena.

The battle arena.

A voice screamed aloud "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WELCOME TO THE GRAAAAAAAND MAGIC GAAAAAAAMES!"

The roar of the crowd was deafening.

Lucy gulped. _**The grand magic games have begun…**_


	16. Chapter 16: Let the Games Begin

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Let the Games Begin…

Natsu blinked as the sunlight hit his eyes, temporarily blinding him. A microphone-enhanced voice blared throughout the stadium, hurting his ears. "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WELCOME TO THE GRAAAAAAAAND MAGIC GAAAAAAMES!" a roar built up from the crowd surrounding him, deafening and harsh. He blinked away the sunlight to see Fairy Tail up in the stands cheering their heads off. Porlyusica gave him a thumbs up before sitting down as the crowd quieted and the announcer began to speak again.

"THIS YEAR, WE HAVE A VERY SPECIAL CATEGORY IN THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES, AND NOT JUST FOR WIZARDS WITH AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM!"

A yell of "WHAT WAS THAT?!" followed by a crash and a yell of "BAKA! SHUT UP, ROGUE!" could be heard from the Sabertooth stands. The announcer continued.

"WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE MAGIC COUNCIL, HIS MAJESTY THE KING HAS FINALLY CREATED A NEW FEATURE IN THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES THAT WILL MAKE THINGS MUCH MORE INTERESTING. KABO, OVER TO YOU."

"Thank you for inviting me- punkin!" the small pumpkin- masked ref stood up in the announcer's booth. "Over the years, many wizards and mages have worked with animals as partners and helpers. As we've all seen in friendships between the wizards and the exceeds, and other relationships, this treaty and partnership is quite useful. So this year we'll be proving to you all just how strong these friendships can be- punkin!"

"THAT'S RIGHT, FOLKS!" blared the first announcer. "THIS YEAR, ANIMALS WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THE GRAND MAGIC GAMES! AND NOT JUST AS OBSTACLES!"

"Each participating guild has chosen to take care of a magical creature and fght alongside it in the games." Continued Kabo. "Many of the challenges will test both the wizard's and the animal partner's limits, so the members of the guild must have a strong bond with the animal. And wizard-animal pairings aren't the only fights we'll be seeing! Animal-and-animal fights will be coming up as the games progress, to see how well the guild familiars now each other! And stand-alone wizard-versus-wizard will still be in, as well!"

"SO THEN, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE THE FAMILIARS OF THE TOP GUILDS IN FIORE! FIRST UP: SABERTOOTH!"

a roar shook the stadium, giving Natsu an intense headache.

"WE HAVE: A GRIFFON WHO WAS UNTIL RECENTLY FORCED TO WORK IN THE COAL MINES, BUT AFTER SOME TRAINING HAS NOW BECOME A POWERFUL FIGHTER AND ALLY: GAAAAAAALE OF SABERTOOOOOOOOTH!"

Gale spread his wings and lifted his head proudly, and several oooohs and aaaahs drifted up from the crowd as the sunlight struck his shiny feathers.

"ALSO FROM SABERTOOTH, WE HAVE TWO AMAZING SIBLINGS WHO HAVE PROVED LOVE CONQUERS ALL, LET'S HAVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE TWIN TIGERS TORRA AND TIGRE!"

Two ginormous tigers that Natsu hadn't noticed raised their heads and let loose a bone-shaking roar as the crowd screamed their excitement.

"NEXT UP, WE HAVE THE LOVELY LITTLE LADIES FROM THAT ALL-FEMALE WIZARD GUILD, MERMAID HEEEEEEEL!"

The two fox spirits stood up and unleashed a barrage of will o'wisps to the shocked cries and cheers of the crowd. Natsu was surprised he hadn't gone deaf yet.

"CASY AND RIO WERE ABUSED BY THEIR OWNERS IN CLOVER TOWN, FORCED TO PULL ROCKS AND DIG PITS FOR THE BODIES OF OTHER ANIMALS THAT WERE KILLED, BUT DESPITE THEIR PAST, THESE TWO ARE NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED!"

" **You can say that again!"** barked one of the foxes, twining her tail mischievously.

"FOLLOWING UP, WE HAVE THE MASTIFF TEAM DIABLO, DANTE, AND FLICKER OF QUATTRO PUPPY!"

" **Watch it."** Snarled Diablo.

"NEXT UP, BLUE PEGASUS!"

" **It's my turn to shine!"** crooned Onyx, rising to his paws. He struck a pose, and several animals, including Rio, Torra, a grey wolf he didn't recognize, and Flicker, fell over with a sigh of admiration.

" **Show-off."** Muttered the fox spirit Etoile.

"WE HAVE ONYX, WHO APPEARS TO ALREADY HAVE CHARMED SEVERAL OF OUR FEMALES OUT OF THEIR WITS! AND-OH," a crash was heard down in the arena "HIS SISTER APRIL, WHO HAS ALREADY KNOCKED HIM UNCONCIOUSS! I WOULDN'T WANT TO BE HIM RIGHT NOW, SHE CAN THROW A MEAN LEFT HOOKER!"

As April dragged her twitching brother away, Natsu noticed a white flash at the very back of the animal crowd. He twisted his head to see, but it was gone before he could blink.

"NOW, FROM THAT DARLING GUILD LAMIA SCALE, WE HAVE SOME VERY RARE ANIMALS TO DISPLAY! CHASE THE WYVERN WAS KNOWN FOR TERRORIZING A FARMSIDE TWO YEARS AGO, UNTIL IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT HIS FOOT HAD BEEN CAUGHT IN A BEAR TRAP! NOW, HE IS LOYAL AND FRIENDLY AND _QUITE_ THE GOOD FIGHTER!"

Chase stretched his wings out and the crowd gasped at the scars that decorated his otherwise dazzling emerald-green body. Most of the scars were gathered near his right foot, and Natsu saw with a sickening feeling in his stomach how twisted the foot was.

"ALSO FROM LAMIA SCALE, TWO _DAZZLING_ CREATURES WHO ARE GOING TO BE QUITE THE OPPONENT: ARIC THE JAGUAR AND MOLLY THE WYRM!"

A lithe cat stood on his paws and observed the cheering crowd in a judgemental way, while a snake-like lizard with no legs and thin, feathered wings unfurled and let the light flash off her scales.

"NOW, WE HAVE TWO POWERFUL BEASTS FROM THE UP-AND-COMING GUILD DREAM FLIGHT ALPHA, ETOILE THE FOX SPIRIT AND ATHENA THE WOLF!"

The grey wolf that had swooned earlier let out a blood-chilling howl, while Etoile stood beside her, smirking.

 **Author's note:**

 **Etoile is my FT oc, but she does not play a signifigant part in the story. Just a quick note**

"AND, THAT MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, FROM LAST YEAR'S TOP GUILD IN FIORE… WE HAVE TEAM LUNA BELLE FROM FAIRY TAAAAAIL! GIVE IT UP FOR ASH, MOON AAAAND MAY!"

Lucy nudged Natsu, and they both stood up to face the crowd. Lunara stood between the two of them and let out a squeaky howl that was laughed upon by the grey wolf. Lucy glared at the wolf, then raised her head coyly at the crowd.

" **My, you are one gorgeous creature."** Spouted a very revived Onyx. Natsu glared at him. **"Be careful"** growled Lunara, all serious-like. **"Natsu-kun will smack you upside the head if you try to make a move on his mate."** Natsu and Lucy turned on her and gave her a death stare that would've made the Hydra proud. **"WE'RE. NOT. MATES."**

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE THERE IS A LITTLE DISPUTE GOING ON BETWEEN THE LUNA BELLE TEAM! A MISUNDERSTANDING, PERHAPS? BUT THEY'RE GOING TO NEED TO PLAY IT COOL, FOR NOW! BECAUSE THE TRIO FROM THE FINAL GUILD IN FIORE IS COMING OUT NOW!"

Natsu blinked. Final guild? There were only six signifigant guilds in Fiore. When did a seventh come in?

On the other end of the arena, a giant door creaked open, and three lumbering forms lurched out.

"FIRST OFF, WE HAVE THE DEADLY MOUNTAIN BEAR, ORSO! I DEFINITLY WOULDN'T WANT HIM AS MY OPPONENT!"

Orso was a hulking monster of a bear, with huge yellow teeth sticking out from his mouth. Natsu shuddered. He definitely wasn't someone to cross.

"NEXT, THE WILY TRICKSTER BIRD RAVAN, WHO, ACCORDING TO RUMOURS, CAN SHPAESHIFT INTO ANYTHING! COME TO THINK OF IT, HE COULD'VE BEEN THE ONE WHO STARTED THOSE RUMOURS!"

a large black bird swooped out and landed on Orso's shoulder, an odd glint in his eye. Despite the fact that he was barely bigger than Lunara, an aura of darkness surrounded him…

"AND FINALLY, WE HAVE THE TAMED BEAST OF THE SKY, THE FIERCE ATTACK DOG OF THE MOON, PREEEEEEESENTING BONE THE _SKYHOWLER!"_

Natsu's eyes widened. Another skyhowler. And not just any skyhowler. One of the Generals.

And not just any general.

Lunara's father.

 **I'd go on about how awesome you guys are, especially PitbullColin for posting all those reviews (hint hint) but it is now 2:00 in the morning, so goodnight!**


	17. Chapter 17: Father and Daughter

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Father and Daughter

 _ **No**_

 _ **No, no no no no no no no….**_

 _ **How? How was he here?**_

 _ **How was this possible?**_

 _ **How was he here?**_

Lunara couldn't even comprehend what happened. It couldn't be her father. It was probably some other murderous white skyhowler who closely resembled her.

It wasn't him. It was all a nightmare. She was dreaming. It was all just a dream.

No, it wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.

Flashbacks filled her head…

 _Poor little Finch, curled up in a ball, avoiding her attackers nips._

 _Neverwish snarling, up on her talons. Her father scratching the hellhound's throat._

 _Why? Why this? Why did mom die? Why did dad hate me?_

" **Moon."** She blinked. Lucy was staring at her intensely. **"Is that him?"** Lunara nodded. **"Y-yes."** Lucy turned to stare at Bone with an angry glare in her eyes. Natsu moved a bit closer, hiding Lunara from the enemy's view. **"They know where we are now. That's bad."** Lucy muttered something to Natsu out of the corner of her mouth, and he nodded. **"Let's get out of here."**

The two of them started herding Lunara back towards the giant doors, but they were already closed. Besides, the giant forms of Torra and Tigre were already blocking their only way out. Just then, the loudspeakers began to blare again.

"NOW, IT'S TIME FOR THE FIRST TEST: A TEST OF POWER! CREATURE OF FUR AND FANGS, ARE YOU READY?"

Roars and howls rose from the surrounding crowd.

"EXCELLENT! SPECTATORS OF FLESH AND BLOOD, AAAAAARE YOU REAAADY?!"

The crowd set a new noise record.

"EXCELLENT! LET THE FIRST TEST BEGIN!"

The earthy ground beneath their paws began to move and shake, and platforms began to rise from the floor, rising higher and higher. Lunara struggled to keep her balance while trying to avoid Bone's gaze at the same time. After a while, the rumbling stopped, and she rose to her paws, trembling.

The arena had transformed into a giant maze of platforms. Round slabs of rock levitated above one another, held aloft by soft blue light. Many of the animals were standing with another on different platforms, while others were still stuck on the ground, staring at the arena with gaping jaws and huge eyes.

"THE FIRST TEST IS SIMPLE: MOST OF THESE PLATFORMS HAVE SPECIAL ENCHANTMENTS ON THEM. DEPENDING ON WHICH ENCHANTMENT YOU ACTIVATE, YOU CAN EITHER TELEPORT CLOSER TO THE END PLATFORM OR FARTHER AWAY FROM IT. MANY OF THE ENCHANTMENTS INCLUDE SWITCHING PLACES WITH YOUR OPPONENT, TELEPORTATION, MAGIC CHANGE, OR POWER UPS. BUT NOT ALL OF THE ENCHANTMENTS ARE GOOD: THE LIST ALSO INCLUDES MAGIC TRAPS AND GUILD SWITCHER! SO BE VERY CAREFUL OF WHAT PLATFORM YOU LAND ON! FIRST PLACE GOES TO WHOEVER CAN REACH THE END PLATFORM" a giant platform with a checkered flag flashed with blue light "FIRST! FLYING AND ATTACKING YOUR FELLOW OPPONENTS IS ALLOWED!"

"READY!"

Bone glanced her way…

"SET!"

He stared at the amulet around her neck…

His eyes widened…

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The animals took off onto the platforms.

Lunara thought Chase and Gale would've had an easy win, but right off the bat the two flying beasts took off too soon and crashed into each other, landing on the same platform. The platform buzzed and a message popped up.

"OH, IT LOOKS LIKE GALE AND CHASE HAVE FOUND THE GROUNDING SPELL! ANY ANIMAL WHO TOUCHES IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ANY FLYING MAGIC AND IS CONFINED TO JUMPING!"

Gale swore under his breath.

In the stands, Sting groaned. "Go figure." Lector sighed "there goes our trump card…" Rogue just stayed silent, scanning the crowd with narrowed eyes.

Onyx and April leapt onto the closest platform, and to their relief, no message came up. Lunara watched as the two of them tested their luck and jumped to the next one. Then she realized that she was standing around gaping. Hurriedly, she leapt to a platform randomly, and a message popped up.

"MOON HAS FOUND THE MAGIC FLIGHT SPELL! THIS ALLOWS HER TO ACTIVATE MAGICAL WINGS FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME! PLEASE NOTE THAT ONCE A PLATFORM HAS BEEN TOUCHED, THE ENCHANTMENT IS DISABLED." Onyx and April stared at Lunara enviously.

Lunara jumped off the platform and soared over the other contestants towards the end platform. Now, she felt at home. Soaring through the sky, racing her brothers, chasing birds… she loved flying.

Suddenly, a magic blast erupted out of nowhere. Turning, she dodged it just in time. Glancing around to see who the caster was, she saw Bone flying towards her, his eyes gleaming with hatred as he prepared to fire another spell…

" **GET LOST, BUDDY!"** Natsu shot out of nowhere and hit Bone head-on. The two of them tumbled in the air before crashing onto another platform. A bright orange message popped up in return. The moment it appeared, the two of them disappeared, and a confused Torra and Tigre popped up instead.

"AH, BONE AND ASH HAVE DISCOVERED THE SWITCHING SPELL! TORRA AND TIGRE HAVE SWITCHED PLACES WITH THE TWO OF THEM, AND THEY ARE NOW ON THE OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE ARENA!"

Lunara saw Lucy leaping across platforms, avoiding bad spells and rival contestants with a runner's leg spell, which apparently gave you long-distance jumping power. Underneath her, Gale struggled to heave his body over each huge gap towards the end platform. _ **Oh no, ya don't…**_

A ball of silvery magic formed in her paws. She shot it at the Sabertooth griffon, who was knocked off his platform onto the ground. The crowd roared with excitement.

"AND GALE THE GRIFFON IS SENT BACK TO HIS STARTING POINT BY A CLEVERLY RESOURCEFUL MOVE BY MOON! BUT… WHAT'S THIS?"

Lunara turned to see Bone leaping across platforms and flying longer distances across the arena towards the end platform, triumph lighting his gaze as he jumped the final stretch…

WHAM! A roar of approval shook the stadium as Etoile leapt up from underneath him and shot a blast of light green fire at Bone. Forced to evade the attack, her father flew right over the end platform and landed on one nearby, which popped up a orange message. With a flash, Bone disappeared. Seconds later, Lunara heard him cussing up a blue streak on the other side of the arena.

"AND BONE HAS BEEN ROBBED OF HIS FIRST PLACE VICTORY AND SENT HURTLING BACK TO HIS STARTING POINT! A VERY CLEVER ATTACK PLANNED BY ETOILE OF DREAM FLIGHT ALPHA! THAT'S ONE RESOURCEFUL FOX!"

Onyx, who was still leaping across platforms, landed next to Etoile and struck a pose, all the while valiantly fighting off a snarling raccoon-dog with strands of bright yellow light. **"Say, gorgeous, once the fighting is over, how about we go down to the Gardens and have a bite to eat? I know a gourmet pet café over there that's very charming…"**

Etoile turned on him with a gaze so icy, he flinched. **"Get lost."** With a burst of energy, she sent the Casanova of a dog flying into the arena wall. CRASH!

"AND ONYX OF BLUE PEGASUS HAS RUN INTO A WALL. LITERALLY! GUESS THAT TEACHES YOU NEVER TO UNDERESTIMATE A PRETTY FACE!"

April, who was standing on another platform in the middle of the arena, sighed and covered her muzzle with one paw. **"Five, four, three, two, one…"**

"APRIL APPEARS TO BE RESTRAINING HERSELF FROM EXPLODING BY PRACTICING AEROBICS! A SMART MOVE, WITH A BROTHER LIKE HERS."

Lunara soared over the platform that April was silently throwing a temper tantrum on. Several other contestants were having trouble, as well. Tigre had been caught in a binding spell, and was hopping in a circle on her platform on one paw. Gale had been hit by one of Bone's attacks and was slowly rising to his talons, shaking his head as if to clear away the pain. Rio was stuck to one platform due to a jelly-trap spell, which had covered her legs in pinkish goo. Lunara glanced around the arena. She hoped Natsu and Lucy were okay.

There! She spotted the two of them tag-teaming against Chase the wyvern. Nastu shot a blast of golden flames at him, while Lucy let loose a barrage of silver stars. Chase was overwhelmed by magic attacks, and fell off the platform.

"AND CHASE OF LAMIA SCALE IS OUT! AND HE ISN'T THE ONLY ONE! THE QUATTRO PUPPY TEAM HAS BEEN TAKEN OUT BY BONE, CASY HAS JUST BEEN DEFEATED BY FELLOW FOX SPIRIT ETOILE, AND ONYX IS IN NO CONDITION TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT!"

" **Wild."** Muttered a paralyzed Diablo.

Lunara saw Natsu and Lucy running together, racing towards the final platform. She shot towards the end platform with them. It was so close! They were going to win!

" **YES!"** she landed on the platform amid cheers of excitement from the crowd. But just then, a cry of shock rose from the stadium, and Lunara heard angry yells from Fairy Tail in the stands. Turning around, she saw what had happened.

Bone had charged out of nowhere, body-slamming right into Natsu and Lucy. The two of them fell onto the platform below, and a ding went off. A large red message popped up.

"THIS IS AN UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS! ASH AND MAY OF FAIRY TAIL HAVE LANDED ON THE GUILD SWITCH PLATFORM! KABO-SAN, PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US WHAT HAS HAPPENED?"

"Certainly-punkin. The guild switch is a temporary spell that forces the receiver to switch whatever guild they are currently in and fight for another one. The new guild is decided by a whell that should pop up…" a bright red roulette wheel popped up above the message. "just about now!"

The guild marks of the participating guilds popped up on the wheel, including one that Lunara didn't recognize. The wheel began to spin. After what seemed like an eternity, it landed on…

the unfamiliar mark?

"AHA! SO ONE OF THEM MUST GO TO THE PYTHON FANG, AM I RIGHT?"

"that's correct- punkin! May must go to Python Fang for one more test, while her friend goes to…" the wheel spun again, and landed on the Mermaid Heel mark. "Mermaid Heel! Ash must go to Mermaid Heel!"

A roar of outrage erupted from the stands where Fairy Tail was watching. A male dog, go to the all-female Mermaid Heel? The crowd, on the other hand, was quite amused.

Lunara turned and saw Bone watching Lucy the way a cat watches a bird, with a sickening feeling in her stomach, she realized just how much trouble Lucy was now in.

All three of them separated into different guilds at the very start of the tournament. What else would go wrong?

 **thanks for AMMW, etc, etc, goodnight, zzzzzzzzzz…**


	18. Chapter 18: Fairy versus Fairy

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

Natsu could hardly believe it. Shafted to Mermaid Heel? Impossible! And what was this 'Cobra Fang' guild? He had a feeling that it wasn't a nice guild.

Lunara was ready to explode. Her father had always played dirty, but now was the limit. She couldn't believe that he had sunk as low to work with those monsters. And now, Lucy-san and Natsu-kun were going to be pitted against an opponent without each other's help! If they all made it out of this alive, she was going to flay Bone alive and throw him to his own Hellhounds.

Lucy was still reeling in shock. How had the first test gone wrong? How did she get drafted to Cobra Fang? One minute, she and Natsu were racing straight to the finish, and the next they had gotten their butts handed to them by one opponent! ONE OPPONENT, for crying out loud! She swore to whoever was up there that she was going to kick that Bone-Skyhowler's butt the moment she got the chance in the arena!

The platforms that had set the first test sank back into the ground. Soon, the arena floor was as smooth as when they'd first started out. As if the big mistake they'd made had never happened. Rage boiled through her, and she turned with a snarl. But Bone, Ravan, and the bear-brute Orso had disappeared.

How fast were they? And what were their true intentions?

" **Well done, Bone. You hacked the spell setter for the platforms so those two fairies would get set up for the trap."**

" **Not only that, but I hacked the Roulette Spell so it would land on Cobra Fang and Mermaid Heel."**

" **Good choice. And Mermaid Heel?"** a barkish laugh echoed through the room. **"What an embarrassment! A male, going to a female-only guild! I can't think of a worse fate!"**

" **That's not all I did…"**

" **Oh, really? What else did you do?"**

" **I set up the second round contesters in a surprising way. You'll see soon. Oh, and Ravan?"**

" **Yes?"**

" **I need you to set up a very special illusion. One that will force the victim to fight whoever is their opponent. Even if the opponent is their… mate."**

The raven's eye began to glow with a bright red light. **"Will do, Bone. I'm curious to see what torture you've prepared for our Golden Pyro friend…"**

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WELCOME TO THE SECOND TEST OF TODAY'S GRAAAAAND MAGIC GAAAAAAMES!" the roar of excitement shook the stadium. In the stands, Fairy Tail watched the gates on either end of the arena open, as Rio and Onyx entered the arena.

Makarof frowned. He'd never heard of Cobra Fang before. A new guild would usually been alerted to the current top guilds. It worried him. And the fact that two of their dogs had been shipped off to opposite guilds worried him. Did someone set up the games? That was impossible. Every round and test was set up and monitered by members of the magic council. Hacking the games was next to impossible.

Then again, so was flying winged wolves, and yet here was a cloud-white wolf with feathery wings, who was part of a new guild…

Down in the arena, Onyx leapt at Rio with a flourishing smile. The husky was quite the opponent, because within five minutes, Rio was gasping and struggling to stand. The husky's power, apparently, was light magic. He could bend light and make it impossible for him to be caught. A bark erupted from the stands, and another husky leaned over the side of the Blue Pegasus area, glaring at Onyx. He shrugged and shot one last blast of Light at his opponents. The fox spirit yelped and bounced across the surface of the arena, before sliding across the boundary line and stopped. She didn't get up.

A roar rose from the crowd, as Onyx raised his head and flicked his tail almost smugly. Makarof sighed. That was one self-obsessed dog. Typical Blue Pegasus.

Casy, Rio's twin, came down and helped her sister to her feet. The two of them hopped back to the area where Mermaid Heel- and Ash- were seated. Milliana wrapped her arms around the wounded fox spirit and whispered soothing words into her ear. The fox spirit shook her head, as if to clear it, and sat down beside her twin as the next contestants entered the arena.

Makarof watched as Gale from Sabertooth and Diablo from Quattro Cerebus entered the arena. The battle lasted five minutes before the poor pitbull was lying paralyzed on the ground. A smattering of polite applause rose from the crowd. He sighed. So far, thing were going wonky for Fairy Tail.

Natsu entered the arena with his head held high. He had to show the crowd that, even if he had temporarily been shafted to Marmaid Heel, that he would still be strong against his opponent. He had to, for the sake of the guild and for the sake of him and Lucy's human forms. He was willing to defeat whatever opponent entered the arena. Looking down to the other end, he saw the opponent entering the arena. For a second, he thought he recognized his opponent, but for some reason his or her form flickered. He blinked, but instead Bone now stood at the other end of the arena, smirking.

" **Bone."** Natsu snarled. Payback time! He didn't even wait for the gong to go off before he charged at the Skyhowler. He had been responsible for the humiliation he and Lucy had gotten in the first test. He was going to pay!

Bone smirked, unfazed by Natsu's reckless charge. He darted to the side, and struck him hard on the side with three silver claws. Natsu braced himself for the blow, but it didn't come. He had gotten hit, but he felt no pain. How? _**Who cares?**_ He charged at Bone again, striking with three long tendrils of golden fire. Bone dodged, and sent three silver claws back at him. But, yet again, nothing happened. Natsu felt no pain.

Which means he could go all out on Bone without giving a damn about whether he was attacked or not.

Flames began to grow around his paws, and he sent three more attacks at Bone. All three struck him head on, but no cuts grew on his flank. Why was he not getting injured too?

Natsu sent two more attacks at him, but no effect showed on Bone's face or flank. How powerful was he?

The crowd gasped as Natsu charged at Bone and struck him, instead of with flames, but with his jagged claws. Finally, several cuts appeared on Bone's chest, but the white Skyhowler smirked and darted backwards. _**Why was he retreating? Wouldn't he want payback?**_

On and on, Natsu and Bone continued to fight a gruesome, furious dance. The final straw came when Bone opened him mouth and snarled **"What's the matter, Pyro Freak? Going to give up yet?"**

A vein popped in Natsu's forehead. With a demonic-like roar, he shot forward and pinned Bone under his flaming paws. Burns grew around the area that they touched but Natsu didn't care. With one last furious snarl, he sank his fangs into Bone's neck. A burst of blood shot from the wound, and his opponent went skidding across the arena. He didn't get up. But even then, he had a wired smirk on his lips…

The guy was on death's door, and yet he still had the gall to laugh? That did it. Natsu charged at him, fury darkening his vision until all he saw was the fallen body of his enemy that he would soon rip to shreds…

A strong hand wrapped around his chest and held him back. He turned to snarl at the interferer, but he realized who it was.

 _ **Gramps?**_

The master of Fairy Tail was staring at him in horror. "What are you doing, Ash? Stop immediately!" Natsu didn't understand why he had to stop. He had to rip the scrawny Skyhowler to shreds before he was back on his feet! A barkish laugh erupted from the sidelines. He turned to see who had dared to laugh. It was Orso, Ravan, and… _Bone?_

 _ **What? Impossible!**_ HE HAD JUST BEATEN BONE! So why was Bone up in the stands? The white skyhowler smirked and pointed to where Bone's body should have been. Yup, the same Bone was lying right in front of him…

Then, to Natsu's horror, Bone's form melted away to reveal a broken, bruised, burned and beaten body…

" _ **LUCY?!"**_

Doranbolt and Lahar from the rune knights appeared beside him. Doranbolt put a muzzle on Natsu's face, while Lahar and several others gently lifted up Lucy's body. "Take her to the animal hospital!"

All the while, the announcer was blasting comments. "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHY DID ASH ACT SO CRUEL TOWARDS HIS OWN FELLOW GUILD MEMBER?"

Looking up, Natsu saw Porlyusica and the rest of the guild watching him in horror. Lunara was snarling an unforgivable insult at Bone, who ignored her.

As a leash was put on the muzzle, and Natsu was led away, one thought entered his mind.

 _ **What have I done?**_

GONG! The gong sounded. The match had begun. Lucy looked over to the other side of the field to see who her opponent was. _**Natsu?**_ She could hardly believe it. Then again, maybe this was a good thing. She knew Natsu, he was bound to pull his punches for her-

And suddenly, Natsu was charging at her, a red haze in his eyes. She heard him snarl **"Bone."** before his fire caught her right on the side of her chest. Lucy was knocked to the side. She heard the crowd gasp. Staggering to her feet, she saw Natsu charge again, snarling. Red flames licked her fur as she went flying once again. Several more times she let him bat her around like a kitten toy before deciding that this fight was serious. _**If he's not going to pull his punches, then neither am I.**_

Silver and gold tendrils of magic wrapped around her paw. She lunged at Natsu, but right before she attacked, something at the back of her brain held her in place. _**No, no, no! now is not the time to freeze up!**_

The tendrils licked at Natsu's paws harmlessly as he brought a giant paw down hard on her already scratched and burned chest. She skidded across the arena, and stopped near the boundary line. Why was he doing this? She was his friend! This wasn't like him! Normally, he'd be playfully hopping around, dodging her attacks, and shouting teasing words.

Was someone doing this to him?

She turned her head to get a glimpse of Ravan, who's left eye was trained to Natsu. The other was glowing bright red. Suddenly, Natsu slammed against her, sending her once again flying. Willing her body to fight her best friend, she charged and sent several more tendrils at him. To no avail.

The more magic Lucy desperately used on him, the more weakened she felt. He was like a machine. A vicious beast accepting orders only from it's master. This had to stop. She heard her friends yelling at Natsu to stop, the crowd gasping and shouting to the referee to stop the match, and Lunara, above all of them, yelling **"Father, stop him! Tell him to call it off!"**

Lucy assumed she was talking to Bone, but she had barely had time to think about why when Natsu body-slammed her into the arena walls.

"WHAT IS ASH DOING? IS HE REALLY READY TO FIGHT A FRIEND IN ORDER TO WIN?" she heard the announcer blare. _**Loudmouth.**_ She staggered to her feet, one eye swelling over and stared at Natsu. **"Natsu! Please, stop!"** but for some reason, this infuriated her partner even more. He let out a roar and charged at her. Every pawstep he took was a thundering blast, every breath a ginormous heave…

then the _shunk_ as he sank his fangs into her neck.

A roar of shock rose from the crowd. Lahar and the Rune Knights rushed into the arena, carrying weapons. The referee blew the whistle, a sign that the match was over.

Pain spouted everywhere in her body as he tossed her aside like a ragdoll. Blood pooled at her paws. She could barely stand from the pure agony. And yet, he charged again…

Master jumped over the side of the stands, and wrapped his extended fists around Natsu, holding him off. The rune knights rushed to Lucy's fallen body and began wrapping cotton strips around her burns and cuts. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wendy and Porlyusica rushing over, closely followed by Sherria.

Just as she drifted off into darkness, she heard Lunara snarl.

" **You're gonna pay, you bastard…"**


	19. Chapter 19: Pity Party

**Heyyyy peeps! This is KitsuneSOUL with a quick message!**

 **I'm glad that this story has become so popular, but lately less reviews have been posted on it. I don't want to seem selfish or anything, but what I write and what others write means a lot to me. So if I could please get at least ONE review each chapter (and not the same person over and over, that's just not fair), that would really help me out. Otherwise I'll keep delaying chapters. So please do so! Also, I've started posting FT fanart and AMMW character pics on deviantart, as well as chapters. Because it's easier to post chapters on deviantart than it is on fanfiction, chapters may be posted there earlier. So feel free to check it out! I'll be putting a link into my FF profile!**

 **Onto the chapter!**

CHAPTER NINETEEN: Pity Party

 _Beep_

…

 _Beep_

…

 _Beep_

The electronic thingy that was attached to Lucy's leg beeped constantly, and it was very annoying. A small insect buzzed on the windowsill. Lunara contemplated eating it.

After the giant fight between Natsu and Lucy, Lunara felt lucky to know that the older mage-turned-beast would survive. Anger surged through her as she remembered watching her father and Ravan manipulating Natsu into attacking his own mate (and he couldn't exactly deny that little fact). Her stomach churned as she remembered staring at Bone in horror…

 _In the FT stands…_

" _ **Father, what are you doing? You shouldn't interfere with the fight!"**_

 _Bone turned to her with a wicked grin._ _ **"I'm not a human, so the rules of No Killing Your Opponent don't apply to me."**_ _She stared at him in horror._ _ **"He's not even your opponent!"**_ _a shriek cut in from the arena. She turned to see Natsu digging his claws into Lucy's flank. Bringing up his hind legs, he sent her flying across the arena with a powerful kick. His opponent staggered to her feet, dazed and in pain. Her yelp of pain and defeat broke Lunara's heart._ _ **"Natsu! Please, stop!"**_ _This was sick, this was just cruel and sick. Couldn't they just stop the match?_

 _Suddenly, Natsu charged at her with a furious snarl. The bloody light of battle lit up in his eyes as he sank his fangs into his mate's neck._

 _Time slowed to a crawl. The Fairy Tail master leapt over the side of the arena and ran towards the fighting dogs. Several soldiers entered the arena. A bell tolled throughout the arena, and a small, pumpkin-headed person signaled to the announcer's booth. "AND THE REFEREE HAS STOPPED THE MATCH!" Lunara watched as the master clasped his hand over Natsu's muzzle, stopping him from fighting any longer. The reddish-brown dog snarled for a moment before the deadly light of battle cleared from his eyes and he stared at his fallen opponent with growing shame and horror. Fury welled up in Lunara's chest as she watched the soldiers gently lift up the badly injured female dog and carry her away. "BONE."_

 _The older skyhowler turned and gave her a fake look of confusion and innocence. "What is it?" "Whuh…" she was so furious, she could barely force the words out. "What did you do to him?!" he gave her an evil grin. "Oh, I just had Ravan cast an Illusion Curse on the foolish guy. Not a big deal." A vein popped in her head. NOT A BIG DEAL?! For a few seconds she couldn't even speak. Then…_

" _ **You're gonna pay, you bastard."**_

She sighed at the memory. Which way was she going to kill him with? Poison felt like a good idea. But not an original one. Slaughter? Not her style. _**Oooohhh, I know! I could put a feather in his water bowl and hope that he'll choke to death on it…**_

A cough interrupted her thought. Lucy shuddered in pain and stretched her front legs across the animal infirmary bed. **"W-where am I?"**

Lunara's heart twisted with pity as the injured dog looked up at her. **"Where's Natsu?"**

" **He's down in his dorm, feeling sorry for himself."** Lucy stared at him in confusion. **"Feeling sorry? But why would-"** then she remembered. **"He-he attacked-** _ **oh god**_ **"** Lunara nodded. **"He disappeared after the match. Gale found him sobbing in his quarter. He got chased away when he asked him if he was okay."** Lucy buried her face in her paws and sobbed quietly. **"Oh god, why? Why did this happen? Why did he do this?"**

" **My Father."**

Lucy looked at her in confusion. **"What?"** Fury welled up in Lunara's chest till she felt ready to explode. He was going to pay. **"My father. He used an Illusion Spell on him."** Lucy stared at her in confusion. **"Meaning-?" "Meaning that you could have looked like anyone. An enemy or rival. And not just your looks. He could control what you sound like, too. Meaning when you begged to him to stop the fight-"**

" **It could have sounded like I was goading him on to attack me."** Realization filled Lucy's face. **"Now it all makes sense why he wouldn't listen to a word I say. But why would your fath- why would Bone do that?"** Lunara ducked her muzzle. **"I don't know. He could be trying to tease us into thinking we can't win. Or it could be something else…"**

" **He could be trying to finish us off. He was the one who sent Hellhound, remember?"** a small memory tugged at the back of her head. **"Oh yeah…"**

The annoying beeping continued, only faster. When she raised her head she saw Lucy grinding her claws into her bedsheet, ripping the fabric.

" **Hey, be careful! We'll have to pay for-"**

The words died in her mouth as Lucy gave a deep, furious snarl. **"He's gonna pay. I don't care if he's your father, or your leader, or your prince, I don't give a damn. I'm going to shred him open with my own claws. I'm going to tear out his entrails and feed them to his own Hellhounds. I'm gonna-"**

Lunara cut her short. **"Okay, okay, I got the message. Just leave a bit of him for me to tear out. And,"** she paused for a moment, then continued **"leave a bit for your mate, too. He'll be rearing for revenge too. Wow, that sounds pretty cool."**

" **He's not my- oh never mind…"** Lucy collapsed on her bed. **"So, what's Natsu doing?"**

" **Moping around thinking 'It's all my fault, I don't deserve to be her mate, I should just leave and become a stray-"**

" **HE'S NOT MY MATE!"**

" **Ah, whatever. Anyway, he assumes it's all his fault."** Lucy stared at her in outrage. **"That's crazy! He was being manipulated and he knows it! I'm gonna go beat some sense into him-"** she struggled to get out of her bed and fell back with a moan of pain. Lunara rushed over and eased her back into a more comfortable position. **"Easy there, Tigress. You're too injured to be moving around right now."** Lucy raised her head, and the young pup flinched as she glared at her with razor-sharp frustration. **"I don't care if I'm on death's door. I'm gonna go tell him what-for-"**

A nurse rushed in and put a needle in her back. Within thirty seconds, she fell back, mumbling under her breath. Ten seconds later, she was snoring. Lunara sighed with relief. _**They are mates and they know it!**_ Despite their constant denial, she could see the love in their eyes when they looked at each other. _**I wonder what the other's thought would be…**_ she pondered as she walked out the door.

 _Time skip, two hours later…_

Lunara ran down the hall. There was a commotion in the infirmary. Fairy Tail wizards were running around, calling out "May!" it didn't sound good. They had gotten the three other Dragonslayers, Wendy Gajeel and Laxus, to try and sniff them out. Turning into the infirmary, Lunara saw a shocking sight. The smell of her father filled the room right up to Lucy's bed- and no Lucy in it. Her mind pondered what happened. _**Could she have gone looking for Natsu? Right before Bone came in?but why would he come in?**_

 _ **None of that matters. She's moving around too early. She could kill herself.**_

The three thought dashed throughout her head as she charged down the hall towards Natsu's quarter. She turned sharply and entered the small room. Natsu's bowl of food was untouched. He was on his bed, sobbing miserably. Her heart cracked into two (for the millionth time today) at the sight. **"Natsu!"** he looked up at her. **"What?"**

" **Where's Lucy?"**

" **Lucy?"** he stared at her in confusion. **"In the infirmary. She hasn't come down yet. Not that it matters,"** he muttered bitterly. **"She probably hates me now."**

" **No, she doesn't! She's not in the infirmary!"**

" **what?"**

" **She got up way too early to come looking for you!"**

" **Really?"** hope dawned in his eyes. **"But I haven't seen her yet."**

" **Exactly."** Thoughts rushed through her head. **"If she's not here, it can only mean one thing…"**

" **Bone's got her."**

 _Don't own FT, review, etc, etc…_


	20. Chapter 20: Truth or Dare

CHAPTER TWENTY: Truth or Dare 

Natsu charged down the hall, thoughts spinning through his head. Where was Lucy? Why did Bone kidnap her?! Did she still hate him for attacking her in the arena? Was Lunara going to rip Bone's face off first or would he get there in time to do it before her?

Turning the corner, he nearly tripped a doctor carrying a tray of glass vials. The vials shattered on the ground. Not even stopping to make sure the doctor was okay, Natsu continued his mad dash down the hall. He could see the doorway to the dorms further away. He burst through the entrance, nearly running into several birds of prey.

 **"Out of my way!"** snarled Natsu. The birds shrieked and scattered as he charged down the dorms area. **Where is he?!**

Then, he saw him. Bone, the rogue skyhowler behind the hellhound attack and his and Lucy's fight in the arena.

The skyhowler who was about to get his throat ripped to shreds.

 **"Bone!"** roared the enraged dragonslayer. The white skyhowler turned in surprise. He would die with that look on his face. Time slowed to a crawl. Natsu could see every fine detail, the look of surprise on the faces of the other animals, the shock on Bone's muzzle as Natsu's jaw closed around his neck...

Suddenly, a heavy weight slammed into him, knocking his grip free from Bone. A paw slammed down on his chest, pinning him to the ground. A familiar face loomed over him. **"What are you doing, Nat- Ash?! You're gonna get us both kicked out!"** Natsu turned and faced his opponent. **"Shut up, Lucy! I'm gonna avenge y- I mean, kill Bone- I mean, what's going on?!"**

Bone's defender was Lucy. She stared at him in shock. **"This isn't like you! And Bone hasn't done anything to hurt you! Calm down!"**

 **"Oh yes he has! He hurt you in the arena and kidnapped you and- wait, if he kidnapped you, why are you here?"**

Someone snickered. Natsu launched to his paws and glanced around for the intruder. **"Whoever that was, I heard that! Don't think you won't get away with it!"**

Lucy sighed in exasperation. **"If you'd just listen to reason, you'd understand! Bone came to my room and told me that he and some other competitors were playing a game! He invited my to play with them! Then you came charging down the hall like a crazed murderer and jumped him!"**

The skin under Natsu's fur felt warm. It had all been a false alarm. He had overreacted and caused a huge fuss for nothing. And now Lucy was angry with him. How humiliating. All of a sudden, he felt the urge to get down on his knees and bury his face in his paws.

Lucy glared at him for a bit before sitting back down. **"ANYway, would you like to join our game? It's quite fun."** Natsu looked at her suspiciously. **"How do you play it?"**

 **"When someone goes, they ask someone else a question, and the person can either answer by telling them something, or by doing something. It's called Truth or Dare. Oh, and you can't chicken out."**

Natsu thought it over for a second. It did sound fun.

 **"Why not?"** He sat down beside Lunara.

The game seemed simple enough.

Boy, was he going to regret that.

 **"I'll go."** barked Etoile. She turned to Lunara. **"Truth or Dare?"**

 **"** Lunara blinked. **"Dare."**

Etoile grinned. **"I dare you to walk around on your hind legs for thirty seconds."**

The pup stared at her while everyone else around her roared with laughter. Then, slowly, she got up on her hind legs and stretched into a pose. She trembled with the effort while Etoile counted the seconds, then fell to the ground, panting. **"Next!"** barked Bone.

Diablo stepped up. **"I'll go!"** Bone nodded to him. He looked down the line before his eyes landed on the griffon Chase. He nodded to him. Chase stared at him. **"What do I do?"**

Diablo spoke with the air of a great leader. **"Chase, tell me. Did you eat all the caviar last night when the chefs were trying to put out the stove-fire?"**

Chase shifted his large talons nervously, knocking around several animals.

 **"Y-yes..."**

Silence filled the corner. Then Diablo threw back his head and laughed. **"I knew it! It had your feathers all over the place! Wild, man!"** Chase nodded uncertainly, unsure of what to think of the praise.

 **"Next!"** barked Bone. Lunara raised her head, a sneaky glint dancing in her eyes. **"I'll go."** Everyone stared at her, then Bone nodded.  
 **"Fine."** but Natsu could see suspicion in his eyes. **Of course!** he thought. **He thinks she'll get him into telling everyone how he cheated in the Games!**

But instead, Lunara turned to Natsu. **"Ash."** she growled carefully.

 **"Yes?"**

She stared at him seriously for a moment, before breaking into a grin. **"Listen carefully."**

Natsu shifted his paws nervously. What had he gotten himself into?

Lunara leaned forward, and whispered into his ear:

 **"I dare you to go with Lucy to the flowerbeds and confess your love to her."**


End file.
